A wealthy estate agent with two previous drink-driving convictions has avoided jail after crashing his £100,000 BMW and fleeing the scene without reporting the incident.
Scott Morgan, 46, who earns £144,000 a year, lost control of his electric i7 M Sport on the M56 near Chester at 8.30pm on a Friday night.
The crash triggered the car’s automatic SOS system, alerting emergency services. When police arrived, they found the wrecked vehicle abandoned on the hard shoulder, with its rear protruding into lane one and debris scattered across the motorway.
Concerned the driver was injured nearby, officers launched a helicopter search. However, Morgan, boss of Move Residential (main picture) in Liverpool, was later found to have returned home and switched off his phone. He only came forward 48 hours later, claiming he thought police had been alerted and would attend the scene.
12-MONTH COMMUNITY ORDER
MailOnline reports that at Chester Magistrates’ Court, Morgan pleaded guilty to failing to report an accident.
A second charge of leaving a vehicle in a dangerous position was dropped. He was handed a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, banned from driving for six months, and ordered to pay £199 in costs and surcharges.
The court heard Morgan had drink-driving convictions from 2005 and 2018, and nine penalty points for speeding.
He denied drinking on the night of the crash and told the court he fled the scene due to a “bad relationship with hospitals”, and asked his wife and PA to assist instead.
JP Olga Randall called the offence “very, very serious” but stopped short of imposing a prison sentence.
Morgan’s solicitor described his actions as “naive”, adding the businessman “misunderstood his responsibilities” and now “deeply regrets” his actions.
