His work trip did not end well
Olivier Vergnault Senior Reporter
09:40, 17 Jan 2026
He was sentenced at Bristol Magistrates’ Court(Image: Michael Lloyd Photography)
A man who veered into the path of an oncoming vehicle near the UWE campus admitted at the scene that he’d had “a drink”.
Kraig Hough, who was visiting Bristol from Leeds, turned out to be almost triple the legal limit when police pulled him over in Bower Ashton on November 28, 2025.
The 40-year-old was arrested at around 8.45pm and charged the following day. He was sentenced at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 9 after admitting driving a motor vehicle while above the alcohol limit.
An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: “Two officers in a patrol car were behind a Mazda 6 when they saw it veer over the central white line on Clanage Road before going the wrong way around a keep left sign, narrowly avoiding a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.
“Officers followed the vehicle before bringing it to a stop. Hough was the driver of the vehicle.”
Hough, of Woodville Mount in Leeds, blew 62 at the roadside and 47 in custody, with the legal limit being 22mg in 100ml of breath.
When he was pulled over, he told officers he was in Bristol for work, he did not know the area and he was trying to get to his hotel.
Hough told officers at the roadside: “Are you going to breathalyse me? I’m going to fail anyway, mate, because I’ve had a drink.”
PC Thomas Lewington, the officer in the case, said: “He was very frank in his admission, but that doesn’t detract from the fact he made the deliberate choice to get behind the wheel while he was under the influence of alcohol.
“While in this case, luckily, nobody was hurt, drink or drugs have been the core factor in around a quarter of all fatal collisions in 2025. It was lucky he avoided the oncoming vehicle, as this could have had a much more tragic outcome.”
Hough has been banned from driving for 12 months and was also handed a £700 fine.
Avon and Somerset Police said that from December 1 until December 31, 2025, a total of 262 people were arrested on suspicion of drink or drug driving as part of its annual campaign in the run-up to Christmas.
Of those, 84.6 per cent of suspects arrested were men, and 79 of those arrested this year were men aged between 35 and 44.