A man was more than twice the drink drive limit when he went round a bend too quickly and caused a horror head-on crash, a court heard.

Part of Richard White’s Toyota Avensis was on the wrong side of the road when he collided with a vehicle being driven in the opposite direction by Natalie Bennett.

Mrs Bennett suffered a broken ankle while her husband Stephen, who was her front seat passenger, had to be airlifted to hospital in Bristol.

He fractured two vertebrae in his spine, which required emergency treatment, and also had a broken rib.

Scaffolder Mr Bennett spent 13 weeks in a body brace and faced uncertainty over whether he would be able to return to his long-term job.

The couple were forced to use their lifesavings while they recovered from their injuries, Bournemouth Crown Court heard.

White, 52, appeared in the dock to be sentenced on Friday, June 30, having previously admitted two counts of causing serious injury by driving dangerously and a single charge of drink driving.

Judge William Mousley KC, who jailed the defendant for two years, said: “This was driving while you were grossly impaired by drink and driving at excessive speed in the circumstances.”

Prosecuting, Rose Burns said the crash occurred on a section of the A352 known as the Whitcombe Bends near Dorchester at around 4.40pm on September 12 last year.

Photographs of the scene presented in court by Ms Burns showed Mrs Bennett’s vehicle stuck on the steep verge.

Victim personal statements from Mr and Mrs Bennett were read by the prosecutor.

Mr Bennett said the crash had a “huge impact on my life”, with a “very difficult recovery period”, while Mrs Bennett said: “This was a very traumatic incident to be involved in”.

White was taken to hospital for treatment before being interviewed by police at a later date where he made no comment to all questions asked.

Bournemouth Echo: The defendant was sentenced at a Bournemouth Crown Court hearingThe defendant was sentenced at a Bournemouth Crown Court hearing (Image: Daily Echo)

The court heard the defendant, of Charlton Mead, Charlton Marshall, was of previous good character and runs a joinery business in Sturminster Newton.

Mitigating, Richard Tutt asked the judge to impose a suspended sentence.

“He accepts full responsibility for what he did,” Mr Tutt said. “He acknowledges that he was driving too fast for the conditions as is shown on the crystal clear dashcam footage and he was over twice the drink drive limit.”

White, who had an entirely clean driving licence, had been suffering a decline in his mental health in the months leading up to the incident, the barrister said.

Mr Tutt said his client had “no independent recollection at all of what happened” and had since sought help for his mental well-being.

Judge Mousley KC said there were good prospects of rehabilitation and there would be an impact on members of the defendant’s family, but “I regret to say” the seriousness of the case can only be marked by immediate imprisonment.

Alongside a two-year prison sentence, White was disqualified from driving for three years.