A drink driver who injured a toddler at the start of an 80mph police chase has walked free from York Crown Court.

Phillip Trevor Fisher, 49, drove for 25 minutes in a damaged car before it broke down and burst into flames, said Kelly Clarke, prosecuting.

At times he hit 80mph and drove on the wrong side of the road and into the path of oncoming traffic as he tried to escape from police.

The chase had begun when officers signalled him to pull over because they believed he could be drink driving. He set off at high speed, crashing into a car that was going through a green traffic light at the Northway - Victoria Road crossroads in Scarborough.

Inside the other car was a three-year-old boy, who was bruised in the collision. The child was so traumatised that days later a jerky supermarket trolley made him recall the crash and reduced him to tears, the court heard.

One of Fisher’s tyres was punctured in the collision and his car was damaged but he drove off without stopping.

When arrested by police, Fisher claimed he had had an “out of body experience” and that he didn’t usually drink.

He had been drinking all day in Scarborough and was nearly three times the drink drive limit.

He later told a probation officer he had had issues at the time in his private life.

Recorder Robert Ward told him: “Drinking 11 pints is not the best way of dealing with such matters.”

Professional driver Fisher, of Mill Rise, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving from Northway in Scarborough to Bridlington via the A64, A1039 and A165 , drink driving and failure to stop after a collision, all committed on March 30.

He was made subject to a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months on condition he does 15 days’ rehabilitative activities and 240 hours’ unpaid work. He was banned from driving for two years and must take an extended driving test before driving alone again. He must pay £100 prosecution costs and a £187 statutory surcharge. 

For him, Nick Peacock said he had behaved out of character. His long-term partner had announced that they should split up and he was concerned he could lose his job.

So he and his brother had gone for a day trip to Scarborough where he had been drinking.

“He took the foolish decision at the end of the day to drive his motor vehicle,” said Mr Peacock.

When he hit the car with the toddler in, he had panicked and driven off in a bid to evade the police.

The conviction for dangerous driving and the driving ban were going to make it “incredibly difficult” to get work in future. He was currently unemployed, though he had worked continuously since leaving education.