A drunk driver who left a rugby player seriously injured and unable to play again after crashing head-on into his car on the A64 has been jailed.

The Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, said it was “by sheer luck” that Benjamin Daniels’ actions did not kill someone when he overtook a lorry on a bend at Golden Hill, west of Malton, and crashed head on with a Ford Focus.

He performed the “dangerous manoeuvre” at about 11.50pm on Friday, January 19, when the road was dark, said Kelly Clarke prosecuting.

The driver of the Ford is still affected by his injuries six months on, York Crown Court was told.

He suffered an open fracture to his right femur as well as fractures to his knee, tibia and fibula, cuts and lacerations after the crash  

Daniels failed a roadside alcohol test after the crash, blowing a reading of 84. The legal limit is 35.

The 32-year-old, of Barton-le-Willows, pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and driving a vehicle above the legal limit for alcohol at a previous hearing at Scarborough Magistrates' Court.

On Tuesday (July 23) Judge Morris jailed Daniels for two years and disqualified him from driving for three years once he is released. After the driving ban is lifted he must re-take his driving test.

Kevin Blount, defending, said Daniels was “struggling to come to terms” with the sudden death of his father two years ago from a brain aneurysm.

But Judge Morris told Daniels: "Everyone has tragedies in their lives… and they don’t do what you did.”

The judge said Daniels “drove like an idiot” and it was “by sheer luck” that he was not in the dock charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

“Sheer luck, there is not a weeping family behind you trying to remember their loved one,” he added.

Judge Morris said the victim suffered “awful injuries”, including a bone coming out of his leg to the point he thought it “looked like spaghetti”.

“Anyone who drives in that way can expect an immediate prison sentence. That is the only sentence to deter others,” the judge said.

Daniels had previous convictions for aggravated vehicle taking, drink driving and driving without insurance in 2011.

On January 19 the victim was driving his partner home when the crash happened, Ms Clarke said.

He remembered taking the bend at about 50mph – in line with the speed limit – before seeing headlights coming towards him.

Ms Clarke said the victim moved the car to the left so he took the impact as there was no way to move out of the way of the oncoming car.

The victim’s car ended up in a hedge after the crash with his partner able to walk away.

Ms Clarke said Daniels admitted he had been drink driving to a witness, saying: “It’s all my fault.”

She added that a police officer who arrived on the scene said Daniels slurred his words and had red eyes.

'It’s crippled me financially,' says victim

The victim, in a statement read in court, said he could not walk for four months after the crash, adding that the pain was “excruciating” at times.

“I haven’t been able to work, it’s crippled me financially,” he said.

He had lost more than £3,000 in savings which he had hoped to spend on a house, the court heard.

The victim has since returned to work as a farmer but cannot operate certain machinery due to his injuries.

He can drive but is unable to get a car because of high insurance costs due to him being involved in the accident, the court was told.

The victim played rugby, basketball and cricket regularly before the crash.

But, he wrote in the statement, a doctor told him he will never be able to play rugby again as a result of the crash.

The victim said he was in the “best form he had ever been in” prior to the accident, adding: “Now I will never play [rugby] again. It has all been taken away from me.”

Mr Blount, mitigating, said  "not a day goes by” where Daniels does not think about what happened.

The crash happened the day before what would have been the birthday of Daniels’ late father.

He had intended to go out with colleagues for a drink but instead drank on his own and made the “extremely foolish” decision to drive himself home, Mr Blount said.

He lost his job due to his injuries after the crash and has since found other employment.

Mr Blount said: “It’s unlikely that this man will be able to get behind the wheel of a car again.”