A foreign lorry driver who crashed in Gravesend while more than three times the drink drive limit is behind bars.

Lithuanian Turlekas Kestutis, 47, was so drunk after Sunday afternoon's smash in Wrotham Road that police were unable to charge him.

They let him sleep off the booze, before hauling him before Medway Maigstrates' Court, via a virtual court link from the station, at 2.30pm yesterday (Monday).

The 47-year-old pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 84 days behind bars, as well as being banned from driving for three years.

He had failed to provide a roadside breath test after the incident, at about 4.15pm, and was tken to North Kent Police station, where his lowest breath reading was 122 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35.

Inspector Bob Platt, who is leading the virtual court scheme in north Kent, said: "Virtual Court is a Ministry of Justice project piloted in Kent and the Metropolitan Police, using high definition video conferencing technology linking police stations to magistrates courts removing the need to transport the prisoner.

"This is supported by an electronic case file system that allows criminal justice agencies to share information much quicker than was previously possible.

"The pilot has seen cases that would normally take two weeks to reach court heard within two or three hours, as in this instance."