A DRINK driver who smashed head-on into another car left the driver injured and wrote off both vehicles, a court heard.

Burnley magistrates were told how electrician Stephen Baker, 57, was said to have gone onto the other side of the road in his Toyota Corolla before he smashed into the other vehicle when he was one and a half times the legal limit, last October 12. The hearing was told the other car was worth £9,000 and the driver had been paid out by the insurance company.

Baker, of Dorset Street, Burnley, admitted driving with excess alcohol on Accrington Road, Burnley. He was fined £250, with a £25 victim surcharge and £85 costs. The defendant was banned for 16 months.

David Hartley, prosecuting, said Baker gave a breath test which showed 53 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35. He was then given the option of a blood test and gave a sample which showed 123 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.

Daniel Frazer, for Baker, handed the bench a reference from the practice manager of a doctors’ surgery, which described Baker as a ‘community’minded individual’.

Mr Frazer said Baker had had to turn down work. The solicitor continued: “His employment is now restricted because of this.”

Mr Frazer said there had been no suggestion the defendant had been speeding. He added: “It just seems to have been an error of judgement on his part.”