A DRINK-driver has been jailed for joining the A38 Devon Expressway in the wrong direction.

Police stopped Sax Foster from Newton Abbot as he went down the off slip from the A379 near Kennford at just 10mph and found that his car stank of cannabis smoke.

A judge told him that his driving could have caused a ‘catastrophic’ accident on the dual carriageway if he had not been stopped within seconds of joining the road.

He was two times over the drink-drive limit and refused to give a blood or urine test for drugs. He had two previous convictions for dangerous driving, and seven for driving while disqualified.

He was aggressive towards the police when they arrested him and spat at an officer who was carrying out the breath test procedure in the custody suite.

Foster, aged 29, of Queensway, Newton Abbot, admitted dangerous driving, drink-driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance and assaulting an emergency worker.

He was jailed for a total of 16 months and banned from driving for three years by Judge Peter Johnson at Exeter Crown Court.

He told him: ‘You were heavily under the influence of alcohol and no doubt drugs. It was late at night and the weather was dreadful with heavy rain and driving winds.

‘You were stopped as you joined the A38 facing the wrong way. Mercifully there was an officer there to stop you. The risk of a catastrophic accident on the A38 is only too obvious.’

Mr Michael Brown, prosecuting, said a police patrol on the A38 spotted a car entering the road in the wrong direction at around 10 mph and the officers managed to pull it over to the hard should almost immediately.

The found Foster and a passenger inside and noticed a strong smell of cannabis. His speech was slurred and he later gave a breath alcohol reading of 74 microgrammes, the limit being 35.

Foster was unco-operative at the scene and spat at the officer administering the breath test at the police station. The spittle missed him but hit his boot and he felt concerned because of the danger of Covid.

Mr William Parkhill, defending, said Foster had an abysmal driving record and tended to commit offences when under stress in other areas of his life.

He had shown he was capable of not offending during periods of stability in his life when he had been able to overcome issues of substance abuse.