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

A man who crashed and left his friend for dead refused a breathalyzer because he “wasn’t in a car”.

Haydn Patterson, of Barons Close, Widnes, went 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 around 5.40pm in Patterson’s Mini Cooper. .

The 30-year-old drove towards Runcorn, traveling over the Mersey Gateway Bridge and onto the Central Expressway. At around 5.55pm, Patterson veered 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 got 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 police at his home in Widnes, where he was seen throwing packets of cocaine and cannabis out of the window, before again trying to make off on foot, but was quickly located and arrested in connection with the incident.

A video of the arrest shows Patterson refusing to take a roadside breath test. The 30-year-old claimed it was because he “wasn’t in a car”.

Full transcript of Patterson’s arrest:

Police officer: “Because you are suspected of driving, I am going to ask you to give a roadside breath test. ok?”

Patterson: “I’m not in the car, so I’m going to turn that down.”

Police officer: “Say that again?”

Patterson: “I’m going to turn that down because I’m not in the car.”

Police officer: “I’m going to tell you now, I suspect you’re driving, I’m going to ask you to provide a roadside breath sample. Is there a medical reason you can’t give me one?”

Patterson: “Medical? No friends, none. It’s just because I didn’t get pulled over in a car.”

Police officer: “I guess you’re driving.”

Patterson: “Ok, yeah, sound buddy. You pulled me down the street there. Enough said. Ok.”

Police officer: “Listen, are you going to breath test me on the side of the road?”

Patterson: “No thanks. I wanted to surrender. He’s going to bring me some tricks.”

Police officer: “I will still arrest you for failure to comply. You don’t have to say anything. But it can hurt your defense if you don’t mention, when questioned, something you later rely on in court.

“Anything you say can be given as evidence. Do you understand that?”

Patterson was later taken to the hospital as a precaution, where officers were able to perform 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 accident – ​​both amounts exceeding the specified limits while driving.

During questioning, Patterson admitted to being the driver of the car, but tried to claim that the accident was caused by another vehicle that crossed into his lane – a claim denied by both eyewitnesses and the coroner.

Despite his denials, he was later charged in connection with the incident. While in hospital, doctors discovered that Kevin had suffered non-survivable brain and chest injuries from the accident and died with his family present on Friday, November 18, 2022.

Patterson was sentenced to nine years in prison; to serve at least six years of this sentence. On his release, he will remain on license until the end of his nine-year sentence. He pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving while over the drug limit (cocaine and cannabis).

He also admitted possession of a Class A drug (cocaine) and possession of a Class B drug (cannabis).

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