A 35-year-old Sharpness man who had three collisions during the same journey, after taking a car without the owner's consent, has avoided an immediate jail term at Gloucester Crown Court.

Prosecutor Ieuan Callaghan explained on Friday (August 5) that Ian Brinkworth, of Hinton Court, Newton, Sharpness, attended an impromptu drinks party at a friend's house in Gloucester on Friday, April 9.

When he left he took the host's Citroen C3 without consent and began to drive back to Dursley.

Mr Callaghan said: "During the course of the journey Brinkworth was involved in two collisions with other vehicles in quick succession."

"The first was just off the A38 on Church Lane in Saul, when he collided with a vehicle being driven by Paul Smith, who had pulled in to let Brinkworth through a narrow part of the lane.

"Brinkworth didn't slow down and clipped the back of Mr Smith's car, causing light scratches.

"Mr Smith turned his car around and flashed his lights at the Citroen, hoping that the driver would stop. He didn't and he continued driving towards the A38.

"Mr Smith then witnessed the second collision when Brinkworth turned onto the A38 at speed and collided with a vehicle being driven by Russell True by cutting in front of him on the wrong side of the road and hitting the passenger side of his Ford Fiesta.

"The impact was such that both vehicles swerved into the middle of the road, some 100 metres from the original collision. The airbags went off in Mr True's vehicle, trapping his wife, who was in the front passenger seat. The vehicle was written off by the insurance company.

"Rather than stopping, Brinkworth drove off in the damaged Citroen. It was later found abandoned after crashing onto a roundabout about a mile away in Whitminster. The vehicle was searched by police who found £10 worth of cannabis and the provisional driving licence belonging to Brinkworth.

"The police attended Brinkworth's home address where he admitted all the offences."

Joe Maloney, defending, said: "At the time of Brinkworth's offending he was concerned that his partner would be jailed for being concerned with the supply of drugs and that his close friend, who he regarded as his brother, had died.

"This evolved into a downward spiral which he is slowly recovering from. The incident has left him with his own health problems as he has now got nerve damage at the base of his spine which prohibits mobility. He is currently seeing a chiropractor to help with this and is no longer able to work.

"Brinkworth has not troubled the police, or the courts since the incident."

Brinkworth pleaded guilty to possessing a quantity of cannabis, aggravated vehicle taking and dangerous driving and having no driving licence and failing to stop after an accident, all on the same day, April 9, 2021.

The judge, Recorder Richard Mawhinney told Brinkworth: "This was a prolonged piece of bad driving that involved three incidents. It involved the deliberate disregard for others and resulted in two collisions and a crash.

"You deliberately drove away from the first incident without exchanging details after which you drove on the wrong side of the road into another vehicle causing the second collision.

"However you did plead guilty at the earliest opportunity."

The judge sentenced Brinkworth to a prison term of eight months, suspended for a year. He also banned him from driving for two years and fined him £200.

Recorder Mawhinney also subjected Brinkworth to a four month night time curfew and ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £156.