Story Archive

Busted II

Stephen Cooke of Gloucestershire, England, was driving on the A46 highway going at least 72 mph when he passed illegally on a curve and hit an oncoming motorcyclist. Amazingly, the motorcyclist lived, and responding police officers found Cooke “excited and buzzing” at the scene — he was high on cocaine. Cooke, 57, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, and was sentenced to two years in jail and a five-year driving ban. “I am astonished he got into that car after taking drugs,” said the judge in the case — because Cooke was the chief executive of the Nelson Trust for 16 years, a non-profit alcohol and drug rehabilitation inpatient clinic. (RC/Stroud News & Journal) ...Better to be an inpatient than an inmate.