A Thanet dad, who grabbed the wheel of a car driven by his former partner during a drink-fuelled row, has been jailed for two years.

Shane Paget, 43, was swigging from a can of lager on a journey from Canterbury to Ramsgate along the A299 New Thanet Way in October last year.

At the wheel was his ex-lover, Victoria Burniston with their child in the back when the Renault Scenic veered across the road and struck a kerb, before hitting a central reservation.

The jury at Canterbury Crown Court heard how Paget had downed four cans of lager and a pint of beer - and was the equivalent of being two and a half times over the drink-drive limit when he grabbed the wheel.

He was convicted of causing danger to road users by interfering with a motor vehicle.

The jury failed to agree verdicts two charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to Ms Burniston and a child.

Prosecutor Iestyn Morgan said the Crown Prosecution |Service would not be seeking a retrial on the GBH charges and they were left on the file.

Mr Burniston suffered bruising in the crash and the vehicle was damaged, the court heard.

Paget, who has no fixed address, denied all three charges and claimed he and Ms Burniston had been arguing before he grabbed the wheel.

The prosecution said that he ran away after the accident and was arrested in Laundry Road when he said: “I wasn’t driving. We were rowing and she lost control.”

Paget was also alleged to have said: “I wanted to kill myself. If I couldn’t have her not one should.”

His barrister Philip Hill said Paget, who has an 18 offence long criminal record, had problems with being reading and writing.

“But the main problem he has is with alcohol and all of his previous offending has in one way or another been involved with alcohol.

“He accepts that once he has had a drink, he starts to become very argumentative and given that this incident happened in the morning he had had a great deal to drink.

“But after being remanded at Elmley prison for the past six months he hasn’t had a drink, “ he added.

Judge Nigel Van Der Bijl jailed Paget for two years but didn’t issue a driving ban or points on his driving licence.

He told him: “This could have been a very serious incident had there been a car a car crash. Other road users don’t usually expect cars to manoeuvre in the way you did.”