A man, who was caught driving 90mph in a 50mph zone at nearly three times the drink driving limit, has been jailed after a crash which sent a family of four to hospital.
Richard Hanlon, of Elm Trees, Long Crendon, Aylesbury, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on June 25.
The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to one count of drink driving and one count of dangerous driving.
According to the court record, the crash occurred on the Eastern Bypass Road in Oxford on January 30 this year.
Hanlon was driving a Mercedes Benz A200 at the time. He was recorded as being almost three times over the drink drive limit with 229 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood.
Tom Blackburn, prosecuting, told the court that Hanlon was seen driving 90mph in a 50mph zone.
Mr Blackburn, who said Hanlon was of previous good character, said: "This was a deliberate act to ignore the rules of the road. His driving was impaired by alcohol and he was in excess of the speed limit.
"It was a dangerous manoeuvre. He was highly impaired."
Peter Du Feu, mitigating, said: "Thankfully he acknowledged blame. He's grateful the outcome wasn't worse than it was.
"He's a man of previous exemplary good character. For him it's a disease of alcoholism."
Mr Du Feu told the court that Hanlon had been consuming 30 units of alcohol per day. This is roughly the equivalent of two and a half bottles of wine or 10 pints of beer.
The barrister said: "He's managing it by reduction, not abstinence. He has to have zero alcohol intake and stick to it.
"The alcohol is an aggravating feature of the dangerous driving. When he's clean of alcohol, he can rebuild his life."
Judge Hassan Khan gave a background of the circumstances of the crash.
Hanlon crashed into a black Mercedes containing the driver, his wife and two children.
The judge said: "It moved into the right-hand lane and saw your car behind at speed. You lost control of the car and you pushed his car into the central reservation.
"The black Mercedes flipped and rolled several times. The family all suffered injuries."
The court heard they attended the John Radcliffe Hospital. They all suffered cuts to the head.
The judge added: "It could have been a lot worse than that. It was prolonged and persistent dangerous driving.
"You were highly impaired by the consumption of alcohol. I'm told at the time you were alcohol dependent, consuming a lot of cider.
"But this is no excuse for getting into a car and driving at speed."
Hanlon was handed a sentence of 14 months immediate custody. The judge said: "Driving in this way is totally unacceptable."
He was also banned from the road for 28 months.
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