A 60-year-old man who crashed his car on the way home from a party while more than three-and-a-half times the alcohol limit has avoided prison.

Magistrates heard how Sabu Abraham had been drinking at a party at Withersfield Hall, near Haverhill, on October 12, 2019, before deciding to get behind the wheel of his Vauxhall Zafira.

When he arrived home, Abraham collapsed on the sofa and his daughter was concerned after noticing damage to his vehicle.

Mark Milkovics, prosecuting, told the court that Abraham had collided with a stationary pick-up truck on the way home and caused "extensive damage".

The police were called and Abraham was taken to hospital where his blood was taken.

It was discovered that Abraham had 285 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80mg in 100ml of blood.

Abraham, of Kingfisher Close, Haverhill, pleaded guilty to drink-driving on August 24 and an interim driving ban was imposed.

His sentence was adjourned so that a pre-sentence report could be prepared by the Probation Service.

Abraham, who was not represented in court, told magistrates through an interpreter: "I made a grave mistake and I will not repeat it again.

"I wish to apologise, I have great remorse over what happened."

Magistrates told Abraham that the offence was so serious that it crossed the custody threshold but decided to suspend the sentence.

Abraham received 12 weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and was also banned from driving for three years

He was also fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £145 and a victim surcharge of £122.

Abraham was offered a drink-drive awareness course by magistrates, which will reduce his ban by 36 weeks if completed.