A father of two GPs blamed a “stressful day at Work” for his drinking vodka and colliding with a traffic island, Wales, on a 20-mile trip home from his surgery. He was also more than twice the limit for drink driving.
Neeraj Singh (48), veered off the road and struck a kerb twice while he was being tracked by police as he commuted from Forest View Medical Centre, Treorchy, Rhondda to his home near Cardiff.
Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court banned a 15-year-old GP from driving for three consecutive years on Friday.
The court heard that Singh was approximately halfway through the journey when his tyre burst in Hopkinstown (Pontypridd).
A roadside breath test revealed that he had 96 microgrammes in 100ml of his breath, almost three times the legal limit of 35.
The court heard that Dr Neeraj Sing has been a doctor for 21+years, a GP for 15+ years and a partner at the local clinic for 11+ years.
Singh crashed in Hopkinstown about halfway between his home and his place of employment.
Forest View Medical Centre in Treorchy, Rhondda, from where Singh began a 20-mile journey back to his home near Cardiff
Mike Powell, the prosecutor, stated that Singh told officers he had drank vodka at the end of a stressful work day.
The father of a married child said that he felt completely in control of his vehicle as he drove the 20-mile journey home from the surgery.
Singh, of Cyncoed, Cardiff, later admitted drink driving.
Andrew Shanahan, the defending attorney, stated in mitigation, that the GP had been working in ‘incredibly stressful work conditions’.
He continued, “He has been a physician for 21 years. He was a GP for 15 and a partner for 11 years in a practice.
“What has happened is that there has been an increase in extremely stressful working conditions.
“We all know the horror stories of doctors and other medical professionals over the last 18 months. They have to do their normal work as well as Covid work.
“We’ve all seen the news about stress and burnout and their impact on the working conditions of doctors.
Dr Singh was half-way through the 20-mile journey Forest View Medical Centre to Cardiff when the crash occurred.
Dr Singh was disqualified from driving for three years, fined £2000 and ordered to pay costs at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court on Friday
“Dr Singh should return to work as soon as possible and care for people. This is the ideal situation.
District Judge Neale Thomas, however, sentenced Singh and said that Singh must have known that he was a danger to other drivers.
He said, “You had a significant amount in your system, almost three times the limit for driving.” You must have known this fact when you got behind a wheel. You knew you were a danger to other road users.
‘You drove in such an unsafe condition that a member the public reported to the police. Your tyre was damaged by the police and you agreed to the collision with street furniture.
‘You drove that distance while drunk. It is a blessing that police were able and quickly to apprehend your whereabouts.
“It was fundamentally a disastrous error of judgement on my part to think that I could drive that distance.”
Dr Singh was disqualified from driving for three years, fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £85 in costs and a £190 surcharge.