Jersey lawyer David Steenson jailed for drink-driving and crash

A Jersey defence lawyer has been jailed for seven months for admitting he drunkenly drove away from a crash.

The island’s Magistrates’ Court heard how David Steenson, 57, drove his Jaguar for more than a mile from the accident on La Route de St Jean with his front wheel scraping along the road at a 90-degree angle.

The collision with a white mini cooper happened on 16 May, 10 days after Steenson finished a community service sentence for assaulting a taxi driver, an incident from 2024 also involving alcohol.

Steenson previously admitted drink-driving, failing to stop and report an accident and two counts of dangerous driving. His lawyer told the court the advocate was “deeply ashamed”.

She added the defendant’s professional achievements meant he had further to fall.

The court heard the car Steenson crashed into was being driven by a woman who was taking her daughter home from a dance event.

Steenson had the “drunken, impaired belief” that he had hit a pavement instead of another car, it was told.

The woman suffered whiplash and has struggled to sleep since the collision.

Steenson also told police he had not been drinking moments before he failed a roadside breathalyser test. He registered 82mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the local limit (35mcg/100ml).

In delivering the sentence, the relief magistrate Tan Ikram, a UK judge, said the crimes were “so serious” there was no alternative but to sentence him with immediate imprisonment.

He said they were made more serious because Steenson had only just finished his previous sentence and, as a lawyer, he should have been aware of the risks of reoffending.

Steenson was also suspended from driving for 30 months and, since the incident, has sought professional help for his relationship with alcohol.

After Steenson pleaded guilty for common assault in December 2024, the Royal Court suspended him from legal practice for three months.

Steenson’s defence lawyer told the court this most recent sentence would not be the end of his punishment as it had done “enormous damage” to his career and reputation.