He was supposed to be his mate, but Haydn Patterson was only thinking of himself when he left his friend to die

A man who crashed and left his friend for dead declined a breathalyser because "he wasn't in a car".

Haydn Patterson, of Barons Close in Widnes, was out with his friend Kevin Viles, 41, at a pub on Monday, October 17 2022. The friends spent around two hours in the Widnes pub, before leaving at around 5.40pm in Patterson’s Mini Cooper.

The 30-year-old drove towards Runcorn, travelling over the Mersey Gateway bridge and onto the Central Expressway. At around 5.55pm, Patterson turned onto the Southern Expressway, where he lost control of the car and crashed.

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Chester Crown Court heard on Tuesday, May 14 Patterson climbed out of the wreckage, spoke to a witness, before fleeing the scene on foot. He left Kevin inside the Mini Cooper with serious injuries.

Emergency services were called to the scene and Kevin was later freed from the car before being taken to Aintree University Hospital. Patterson was later found by officers at his home in Widnes, where he was seen throwing wraps of cocaine and cannabis out of the window, before again attempting to make off on foot, but was quickly located and arrested in relation to the incident.

A video of the arrest shows Patterson declining to take a roadside breath test. The 30-year-old claimed it was because he was "not in a car".

The full transcript of Patterson's arrest:

Police officer: "Because you're suspected of driving mate, I am going to ask you to provide a roadside breath sample. OK?"

Patterson: "I am not in the car, so I am going to decline that."

Police officer: "Say again?"

Patterson: "I am going to decline that because I am not in the car."

Police officer: "I am going to tell you now, I suspect you of driving, I am going to ask you to provide a roadside breath sample. Is there any medical reason why you can't provide me one?"

Patterson: "Medical? No mate, none. Is just because I have not been pulled in a car."

Police officer: "I suspect you of driving."

Patterson: "Ok, yeah mate sound. You pulled me on the street over there. That's enough said. Ok."

Police officer: "Listen are you going to give me a roadside breath sample?"

Patterson: "No, thank you. I was going to hand myself in. She's going to get me some fags."

Police officer: "I am going to further arrest you on failure to provide. You do not have to say anything. But, it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court.

"Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand that?"

Patterson was later taken to hospital as a precautionary measure where officers were able to conduct a breath test and take a blood sample. The results showed that he was under the influence of both cocaine and cannabis at the time of the crash – with both amounts exceeding the specified limits while driving.

During questioning, Patterson admitted he was the driver of the car, but attempted to claim the crash had been caused by another vehicle which had driven into his lane – which was disproven by both people who witnessed the incident and the forensic collision investigator.

Despite his denial, he was later charged in relation to the incident. While in hospital, doctors found Kevin had sustained non-survivable brain and chest injuries due to the crash, and he passed away with his family present on Friday, November 18 2022.

Patterson was sentenced to nine years in prison; to serve a minimum of six years of this sentence. On release he will remain on licence until the end of the nine year sentence. He had pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the drug drive limit (cocaine and cannabis).

He also admitted possession of class A drugs (cocaine) and possession of class B drugs (cannabis).

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