A drunk driver from the Honiton area has been jailed after admitting to 'causing death by careless driving' in a fatal collision near Sherborne, Dorset.

Mark Andrew Green, aged 44 and of Dumpdon View, Monkton, Honiton, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday, January 24, after admitting to an offence of causing death by careless driving when over the prescribed alcohol limit.

He was sentenced to two years and four months in prison and given a three-year driving ban, which will begin following his release from prison.

At around 5.50pm on Saturday, January 26, 2019, a single vehicle crash occurred near the village of Middlemarsh at Tiley Knap. A Peugeot Boxer panel van being driven by the defendant left the carriageway and collided with a tree.

Green's passenger, his friend 37-year-old Neil Adam Parsons from Sherborne, sustained serious injuries in the collision and was taken to hospital for treatment but sadly later died from his injuries.

Officers attended and Green was asked to give a roadside breath test which gave a positive indication for alcohol. A blood sample taken nearly three hours after the collision was found to contain 120 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80 milligrammes per 100 millilitres of blood.

Inspector Joe Pardey, of the traffic unit, said: "Mark Green's decision to get behind the wheel after drinking on Saturday 26 January 2019 has had truly awful consequences, resulting in the death of his friend and devastation for the family of Neil Parsons.

"Our thoughts remain with Neil's family and I hope this case serves as a warning to others of the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol."