A YOUNG snooker player’s evening out with friends ended disastrously as he drove home while over the drink drive limit – and crashed into a taxi.

Jack Bowman, 24, who had more than twice the legal alcohol limit in his system, then made matters worse by driving away from the scene, Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard. He pleaded guilty to three offences.

They were drink driving, failing to stop after an accident, and failing to report it.

George Shelley, prosecuting, said it happened on April 25 as Bowman – a man with no previous convictions - was driving a Ford Focus in Upperby Road. During the journey, the defendant’s car collided with the back of a taxi.

Though he slowed down and began to pull over, he failed to fully stop or get out of his car and drove away, said Mr Shelley. That driver of the taxi suffered whiplash injuries and needed time off work.

At the time of the accident, Bowman had 77mcg of alcohol in every 100mls of breath. The legal limit for driving is 35mcg.

A probation worker told the court that Bowman, of Cant Crescent, Upperby, was “full of remorse” for what he did. “He’d been at the snooker club, and he usually doesn’t drink but on this occasion he did,” said the officer.

“He’d driven there with no intention of having a drink, but he did. He said he felt okay and that’s why he drove home… I am almost certain that we will never see this young man in a court again. He understands he will be disqualified today.

“He is willing to take all the consequences of his actions.

“He drinks socially but has no drug problems and he has been in full time work since the age of 16 and has a stable family and is in a stable relationship.” A warehouse worker, who attends a Tuesday night snooker league, he is also a keen Carlisle United fan.

District Judge John Temperley noted Bowman’s previous good character and his remorse, initially expressed at the police station.

The judge banned Bowman for 18 months, but offered the drink driver rehabilitation course, which will reduce the disqualification by 18 weeks if completed within a deadline. A 12-month community order will include 100 hours of unpaid work.

In addition, the defendant must pay the taxi driver compensation of £200, as well as £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.