A COUPLE avoided serious injury or death at the hands of a dangerous driver due to the reaction of their dog, a court was told.

Sam Coates was at the wheel of a red BMW which missed Kathryne Ellinger and her partner “by inches” after the motorist turned into a Bournemouth road at speed and mounted the pavement.

A hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday was told that Ms Ellinger’s dog saw the car coming and jumped up anxiously.

This caused the couple to turnaround and move, narrowly avoiding the BMW, which had just entered Paisley Road in Southbourne.

The car continued down the road, colliding with a sign and parked cars before coming to a stop near the junction with Arnewood Road.

Coates, 25 and of Moorside Road, Bournemouth, had been drinking at a pool club earlier that evening.

Bournemouth Echo: Sam Coates, aged 25 and of Moorside Road, BournemouthSam Coates, aged 25 and of Moorside Road, Bournemouth

Judge Jonathan Fuller QC jailed him for 10 weeks after he admitted a charge of dangerous driving at an earlier hearing.

Prosecuting, Oliver Doherty told the court that Ms Ellinger described Coates as taking the corner from Beaufort Road into Paisley Road “far too fast” shortly after 10pm on October 23 last year.

A statement from her read in court said: “If my dog had not seen you coming, I would have been seriously injured or died due to your negligence.”

There was a passenger in the car with Coates, who fled the scene when the vehicle came to a stop.

The defendant was pulled from the car by members of the public. He told them that he thought he “may have hit somebody”.

Mitigating, Nick Robinson said Coates “sincerely apologises” to the victim for his driving and the ongoing impact it has had on her.

The defendant, who had no previous convictions, was on medication for depression at the time of the incident and continues to be so, the court heard.

Mr Robinson said his client had made progress by engaging with the mental health team and Bournemouth-based addiction support service We Are With You.

He had not consumed alcohol since the incident and was now cycling to work, said Mr Robinson.

A statement from Coates’s employer described him as a “valuable member of staff”, while a family friend said he was “trustworthy”, “hardworking” and “reliable”.

Mr Robinson asked for a suspended sentence to be issued, with Coates expressing his remorse, attempting to address his alcohol problem and being at risk of losing his job if he was jailed.

However, Judge Fuller QC said only immediate custody would be appropriate to reflect the seriousness of the offence.

“Regrettably you took the decision to drink while taking medication and then drove and the consequences could have been much worse than they were,” said Judge Fuller QC.

He added: “Suspending the sentence would not mark the seriousness of the offence. You came very near to causing serious injury or worse to two innocent pedestrians.”

Coates was also disqualified from driving for 15 months, with a requirement to take an extended retest should he wish to drive again after his ban.