At 7:38am on 20 February 2025, police in Carmarthenshire received a report of a single vehicle collision on the A484 between Pembrey and Kidwelly. They found a VW Polo from RED Driving School sitting in a roadside ditch, caught in bushes. The driver, Timothy Howells, 54, of Burry Port, was still inside.
Howells appeared heavily intoxicated to attending officers. A roadside breath test returned a reading of 110 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit in England and Wales is 35 micrograms. A second evidential test taken at the station returned 132, nearly four times over the limit.
In interview, Howells admitted he was on his way to collect a pupil for a driving lesson.
Passing motorists filmed him through the open driver's window as he waited in the ditch. One shouted: "Plenty to drink last night or what? You can't park there mate." Another, filming from their car, offered this assessment to camera: "Just a reminder now, you don't want to have driving lessons off this guy."
Howells appeared at Llanelli Magistrates Court on 24 February. He was given an eight week custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, and banned from driving for 30 months. Under DVSA rules, he will not be able to apply to re-join the Approved Driving Instructor register until four years after his ban expires, meaning the earliest he could return to instructing is 2031.
Chief Inspector Christina Fraser of Dyfed-Powys Police said Howells had been operating in a position of great trust and responsibility, and that Roads Policing officers had worked quickly with colleagues, the Crown Prosecution Service and the DVSA to ensure learner drivers and other road users were safeguarded from an individual who presented a serious risk of harm.
The pupil was not in the car.
Sources: Carmarthenshire News Online, Swansea Bay News, Wales Updates, PEOPLE via Yahoo News. Dyfed-Powys Police official statement via all sources. All facts verified against primary reporting.
