A DRINK driver who collided head-on with another vehicle driven by a mother with two child passengers has received a 16-month ban.

Stefano Delmanso pulled out of a side junction onto the wrong side of the road into the path of the other car in Somerton, leaving the other driver with bruising and whiplash injuries.

When police arrived he said he was at the wheel of the car as he was “the least drunk” out of him and his passenger.

At South Somerset Magistrates' Coiurt, District Judge Angela Brereton told him he was lucky that the incident did not have more serious consequences.

Delmanso, 32, of Searle Court, Somerton, pleaded guilty to drink driving and driving without due care and attention on November 27 last year.

Prosecutor Ben Winzer said the victim was driving her car with her four-year-old son and baby daughter inside when she approached the junction on Cartway Lane.

The defendant came out of the junction at speed and ended up on the wrong side of the road causing the collision.

“She had no chance to take any avoiding action and her car ended up in a ditch,” he said.

“When she got out of her car she was hysterical and screaming at Delmanso after realising he had been drinking and he remained at the scene.”

When the police arrived the defendant admitted he had been drinking saying he had only driven because he was less drunk than his passenger.

The court heard a significant amount of damage was caused to both vehicles.

When Delmanso was breathalysed he had a reading of 46mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, the legal limit being 35mcg.

He told the court he should not have been driving and he was remorseful.

“I made a big mistake in getting inside the vehicle and thought I was under the limit at the time but misjudged the junction and went onto the other side of the road,” he said.

District Judge Brereton imposed a 16-month disqualification and £440 fine for drink driving and a further fine of £290 for careless driving.

A victim surcharge of £292 and £85 costs were also imposed.

“You were lucky this did not have more serious consequences in causing injuries to yourself or the innocent people who were travelling in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she said.