A CARELESS provisional licence holder who crashed his partner's car while speeding on a country road was left with a broken jaw after rolling the vehicle and causing a van driver to smash into a tree.

Sean Reid, from Beith, took a Peugeot 208 without its owner's consent before losing control of the car and hitting a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van on the opposite carriageway.

The 36-year-old and the other male driver were both injured in the collision, while both vehicles were damaged after the car Reid was driving struck a grass verge and the van collided with a tree.

Reid, of Longbar Avenue, who spent a week in hospital in the aftermath of the incident, was handed a community payback order after appearing at in court for sentencing over the April 25 incident.

Procurator fiscal depute Alister Miller told Greenock Sheriff Court: "The locus was Auchenfoil Road in Kilmacolm, a quiet country road with a 60mph speed limit.

"At around 4.50pm on the date, the accused, who has a provisional licence, was driving his partner's car and had taken it without her consent.

"As he approached a left-hand bend he was travelling too fast and went onto the wrong side of the road and collided with another vehicle.

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"He hit a grass verge and rolled over. The complainer's vehicle collided with a tree."

Reid, the court was told, broke his jaw, burst open his lip and had a 'very serious cut' under his chin that went through to his mouth.

Police attended the crash scene and Reid was taken to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital for medical treatment, while the other driver was said to have experienced pain after the accident.

Defence solicitor Aidan Gallagher said there were "certain financial pressures" on the father-of-four at the time and he took the car to get to work.

Mr Gallagher said: "He didn't have transport to get to work and stupidly he took the decision, which he now fully regrets, to take his partner's car.

"It is perhaps with good fortune that nothing more serious resulted as a consequence of the accident.

"He was in hospital for a week and was recuperating for a further four weeks; he has a number of scars on his face and body.

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"He has a record and has a chequered past, but in more recent times, the last five or six years, that has not been the case, other than this one aberration.

"He is full of remorse at the mistakes that were made."

Sheriff James Varney told Reid: "You knew perfectly well that you should not have been driving that day, never mind the fact that the condition of your driving fell well below that of a competent driver.

"You caused significant injuries to yourself and injured someone else, and you have a record for similar offences."

Reid was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work within the next six months.

He was also disqualified from driving for 10 months and fined £150.