Motorist 'careered into Southampton house after failing to go round bend'

A jury at Southampton Crown Court was told how Sal Chitulu, failed to turn round a bend when driving late at night and instead carried on driving forward, smashing into a semi detached family home.

The owner of the home at the junction of Oswald Road and Victoria Road, Daniel Holmes, then rushed out to see what had happened and stopped Mr Chitulu escaping.

The motorist claimed to police he was only the passenger and said his girlfriend, who fled the scene, had been driving.

But CCTV outside the home proved that Mr Chitulu was the driver and he was arrested that night.

The jury was told the 40 year old from Southampton then failed a roadside breath test and refused to complete a full examination after he was arrested.

Prosecutor Edward Hollingsworth told the court how at nearly 1am on March 1 2020, Daniel Holmes was in bed at his house when he heard an "almighty crash".

"He didn't know what had happened or if someone was hurt and he went downstairs and found a Vauxhall Zafira which had careered in to the front of his house.

"There were two people inside the Vauxhall Zafira, a man and a woman. The woman fled the scene.

"Instead of following the road around to the right he simply ploughed on at a speed we estimate to be in the region of 30 miles per hour and crashed into the frontage of Mr Holmes' house."

Mr Hollingsworth explained that Chitulu, who only had a provisional license at the time, gave a roadside breath test which he failed.

He added that the driving was dangerous because: "His driving fell far below what would be expected of a careful and competent driver.

"Had he been driving carefully and cautiously and according to the standards of a reasonable driver, we say this accident wouldn't have happened with the degree of seriousness seen in that footage," he said.

Sal Chitulu at Southampton Crown Court. Photo by: Solent News & Photo Agency

Daniel Holmes, the homeowner, said: "I was in my bedroom looking at my phone when I heard a smash.

"I first thought someone had broken a window. When I went outside I could see that a car had crashed in to the front of my house."

He said he saw Miss Ross get out of the car and walk up the road and grabbed Chitulu by the arm so he couldn't get away as well. He said Chitulu pointed after her and said "That's my girlfriend."

PC Daniel Channer was first on scene. He told the court that he spoke to Chitulu, who told him he was only the passenger in the car. But when Mr Holmes showed PC Channer the CCTV footage it was clear to him that Chitulu was the driver.

He then asked the driver to complete a roadside breath test which showed the presence of alcohol in his system and arrested him for drink driving.

Police initially took him to hospital in case he was injured but after he was given the all clear they returned to the police station, where Chitulu refused to give an evidential sample of breath or blood to get a more precise reading of how much alcohol he had in his system.

Chitulu denies one charge of dangerous driving.

The trial continues.