A 44-year-old man who inflicted more than £38,000 worth of damage by driving into the gates of the Prime Minister’s residence is now serving jail time. Matthew Wootten was behind the wheel in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire when he ‘deliberately steered’ towards Victory Gate at the entrance to the Chequer’s estate.
The historic property is the official country house of the UK Prime Minister, who was Rishi Sunak at the time of the incident on June 25 – just days before the General Election. The Crown Prosecution Service said he made no attempt to slow down, then ‘smashed through the 80-year-old oak gates, significantly damaging them and seriously injuring himself’.
Wootten, of Great Kimble, was found to be almost triple the legal drink drive limit at the time of the incident, with a blood alcohol reading of 221 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal alcohol limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood for drivers in England.
Authorities also uncovered seven cans of alcohol inside the car. It has now emerged that Wootten pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving, damaging property, being reckless as to whether life is endangered, and driving a motor vehicle while above the alcohol limit at court.
Celia Mardon, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Thames and Chiltern, said: “CCTV footage showed that Wootten intentionally drove at speed towards the gates of the Chequers estate. The strength of this evidence, along with a significantly high alcohol blood reading, gave him little choice but to admit his guilt to the charges we authorised against him.
“Not only did Wootten cause significant damage to the Victory Gate, but he could also have put the lives of others at risk with his reckless driving.” On October 30 2024, Wootten was sentenced to a total of 32 months’ imprisonment at Reading Crown Court.
He was also disqualified from driving for 40 months.