A judge has refused to punish a driver who seriously injured an off-duty policeman - because the penalty would be an insult.

Craig Gardiner admitted careless driving after a crash that left British Transport Police special constable Dustin West in a wheelchair - the maximum penalty for which was a fine.

The 24-year-old, of Sandling Lane, Penenden Heath, was cleared by a jury of dangerous driving over the early-hours smash.

But he admitted another dangerous driving charge - committed after the accident - failing to stop and failing to provide a breath specimen.

Gardiner, who has a previous conviction for drink-driving, was jailed for three months for the dangerous driving offence and banned for three years.

But Judge Philip St John-Stevens (pictured above) said there would be no separate penalty for Gardiner's careless driving, in which scooter rider Mr West was seriously injured as he travelled home from work to Maidstone.

He said: "The offence of careless driving, which had such a catastrophic effect on Mr West, would have been met with a fine.

"That would be offensive to him when such actions are met with a fine. For that reason I pass no separate penalty.

"I do that because to try to mark what has happened to him with a fine is inappropriate and disrespectful to him."

Maidstone Crown Court heard Mr West left work on his Honda scooter at Stockwell police station, in south east London at about 2am on January 16 last year.

Craig Gardiner was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court

His memory was blank after the crash on the A20 Sidcup bypass at Swanley.

"The next thing I remember is waking up six weeks later," Mr West said in a statement.

Gardiner did not stop and drove on with his Vauxhall Astra badly damaged and the airbag inflated for another 13 miles to the Leybourne slip road on the A228.

Mr West said in an impact statement the accident had ruined his life.

Judge St John-Stevens told Gardiner: "Your driving on January 16 has changed your life but, more importantly and significantly, it has had a devastating effect on Mr West.

"It has changed his life forever, and his family. It is clear a hard working family man has been devastated as a result of your driving.