AN INTOXICATED driver who was 16 times the drug limit left his friend in hospital with a fractured spine over the festive period after a Christmas Eve crash.

Alan Petrie admitted causing serious injury to his passenger following the dangerous driving smash in Kilwinning on December 24 last year.

The 39-year-old, from Stevenston, pleaded guilty to a pair of charges in relation to the incident, which took place on an unclassified single carriageway road between the town's Smithstone Terrace and Dalgarven.

A member of the public called 999 to alert police to the single-vehicle crash and when officers arrived at the scene they found a Ford car stuck in a field.

Procurator fiscal depute Gemma McKechnie told a hearing at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court that it was established that the driver had failed to navigate a bend and drove through a gate into the field.

Both ambulance and fire crews were already present and paramedics were checking over the driver.

The vehicle's frontside passenger was being removed from the car by the fire service and he was later taken to Crosshouse Hospital, the court heard.

Petrie, of Clements Place, then identified himself as the driver to police who noted he was "unsteady and slurring his words".

Due to their concerns that he was intoxicated, officers conducted a roadside breath test and drugs swab.

While his breath sample returned a negative reading, the drugs swab was flagged as positive.

Petrie was then arrested and taken to Saltcoats police office where a blood sample was taken.

Readings showed that he had 800 microgrammes of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood, as well as 60 microgrammes of cocaine per litre of blood.

The legal limit of the substances is 50mcgs per litre and 10mcgs per litre respectively.

Ms McKechnie told the court that the passenger had sustained a fracture to his spine and spent two days at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock before being transferred to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

He was not discharged until January 15 this year and refused to provide a statement to police following the crash.

The latest update on his condition provided to the court stated that he appeared for an appointment in March still aided by crutches.

Defending, solicitor Simon Brown requested that background reports be called for before Sheriff Colin Bissett passed sentence.

He also noted that Petrie and the passenger of his vehicle remain on "good terms".

Sheriff Bissett agreed to delay sentencing for reports to be prepared and Petrie was granted bail until his next appearance at a later date. He was also disqualified from driving in the meantime.

Sheriff Bissett said: “According to the narration I have heard there was a great deal of illegal drugs in your system at the time you were driving.

“I take a serious view of this matter and you may well receive a custodial sentence on the next occasion.”