A MAN who crashed into his neighbour's front wall attempted to flea the scene in his pyjamas, while clutching a bottle of wine.

Christopher Vick, 46, of The Hedgerows in Hawarden, had been spotted reversing his Skoda vehicle away from the demolished wall, after the neighbour had come outside to investigate having heard a loud bang while sat in her living room.

Despite around 30 feet of the wall being flattened during the incident, Vick managed to drive his car down the cul-de-sac, but was chased on foot by the woman's husband and another neighbour, who was an off-duty police officer.

The pair managed to stop Vick from entering his own home, with the off-duty officer grabbing hold of the jacket he was wearing over his night wear, and taking his keys away from him.

Justin Espie, prosecuting, told Mold Magistrates Court how Vick had made determined efforts to leave the scene on December 6 last year, despite being told not to by the off-duty police officer and told of the significant damage that had been caused to his neighbour's wall.

The police were called and when officers arrived at the scene, Vick was arrested and taken by officers to the custody suite at Llay and while there, refused to provide them with a sample of his breath on two separate occasions.

A firm of solicitors were instructed to represent the defendant and Vick was advised by them to enter a not guilty plea to the charge of failing to provide a specimen for analysis, which he would later come to question and had therefore decided to change it to one of guilty at the last minute.

Representing himself in court, Vick said how the refusal to provide police with a sample of his breath while in custody had not been a deliberate act on his part and that it was done more out of confusion and ignorance on his part.

Having spoken to the duty solicitor while being held, he was advised to provide a sample but when he tried to do so, was told by officers that he was no longer able to do so because he had already refused on two separate occasions.

He had then been instructed by the firm of solicitors to plead not guilty to the matter, but he told the court how that advice had not rested comfortably with him and after thinking about it for a number of weeks, decided to tell them that he no longer wanted their representation.

He said: "I am wholly embarrassed by the events of that evening and I accept there will be consequences of my actions.

"I have never been in any kind of trouble before and I was not happy with the advice I had been given to plead not guilty."

Magistrates fined Vick £448 and ordered him to pay court costs of £770, while he was also banned from driving for a period of 16 months.