A man who knocked back beer and shots before crashing his disabled dad’s car has been told: “You could have killed someone.”

City magistrates delivered the warning to 33-year-old Mark Flippence as he admitted being drunk behind the wheel of the Hyundai in Dover Street, Canterbury.

The court was told he was more than double the legal limit when he smashed into a lamppost on June 10.

Prosecuting, Julie Farbrace said Flippence, of Court Meadows, Littlebourne, had been drinking pints of beer and shots of sambuca before the accident.

She said: “Mr Flippence drove a short distance before crashing into a lamppost.

“He did try to walk away but when asked to stop by police, he did.”

Tests revealed Flippence had 179mg of alcohol in 100ml of his blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

His solicitor, Hugh Roberts, told the court Flippence had lost his job because of the offence.

“This was completely out of character,” he said.

“He had a few drinks and clearly his judgement was impaired.

“The consequence of this is serious. He has lost his job and is now completely unemployed and his job prospects are not looking great.”

Chairman of the bench Robert Green told Flippence: “Driving under the influence of alcohol is serious and we take it very seriously. You could have killed someone.”

Flippence was banned from driving for 20 months, fined £120 and hit with £85 costs.