A serial drink driver left a woman with serious injuries after crashing while three times over the limit. 

Stephen Clears, 57, pulled out from a junction straight into the path of an oncoming car on the A144 at Ilketshall St Lawrence, between Bungay and Halesworth. He had been convicted of drink driving offences on four previous occasions. 

Norwich Magistrates’ Court was told the crash in May 2023 left the driver of the car he hit with lasting serious injuries to her foot.

Prosecutors said the lasting effects meant she had since found it difficult to walk.  

Clears, of Normanston Drive in Lowestoft, failed a roadside breath test after recording a reading of 106. The legal limit is 35.

He was taken to hospital after the crash, then subsequently refused to give police a blood sample for an evidential reading. 

The crash on the A144 at Ilketshall St Lawrence left a woman with serious injuriesThe crash on the A144 at Ilketshall St Lawrence left a woman with serious injuries (Image: Google)

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Appearing in custody after handing himself in to police following an earlier missed court hearing, he pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen.

The court was told he had previously served a mandatory three-year driving ban after being caught drink driving in 2016.

He had also been convicted of drink driving related offences in 2005, 2011 and 2013. 

Magistrates banned him from driving for three years and three months, stating the offence had been aggravated by his previous convictions, that he had caused a crash and that he had been carrying a passenger at the time. 

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The self-employed builder, who is also a carer for his partner, was also ordered to pay fines and costs totalling £785. 

Kieran Dunphy, mitigating, said he was “deeply apologetic” for the crash which saw him hit the car travelling towards Bungay just after it had overtaken a learner driver.

He added: “He was driving because his partner was taken ill whilst they were out. He took over because he was very keen to get her home and to get her some treatment.”