A pastor crashed his car while three times over the drink-drive limit and then attacked police officers and paramedics who arrived at the scene.

Lee Stephens, 31, told them he was a member of the IRA and threatened to murder them, a court heard.

He collided head on with a family’s Ford C-Max car in Billericay, Essex, leaving a father and his two young children, aged five and six, in hospital.

Stephens then punched a paramedic, spat at a police officer and assaulted a female paramedic as she treated him.

The chaos continued at Basildon Hospital where Stephens told police he had contacts in the IRA and they would “blow them up”.

He then shouted at a police officer, accusing him of having sex with his sister, Basildon magistrates’ court heard. The court heard that the officer’s sister had died just weeks earlier.

Stephens, of Armagh, Northern Ireland, was working at a Pentecostal Church in Billericay at the time.

He was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months when he appeared in court on Friday.

The drama started after Stephens was thrown out The Forge Pub in The Pantiles, Billericay.

He crashed his car in to a lamppost in Queens Park Avenue before smashing head on into the family’s car.

The court heard he was arrested by an off-duty police officer and a breath test showed he had 108 microgrammes of alcohol in his breath per 100ml. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.

When ambulance crews arrived to treat Stephens and the injured family he became aggressive and swore before punching Sgt Mark Ammon twice in the leg.

He then spat at another officer and punched paramedic Gary Harvey in the kidneys.

Stephens said: “I am a pastor, let me go or you will lose your jobs. I will kill everyone, I know the IRA.”

Sam Doyle, prosecuting, told the court the children involved in the crash suffered whiplash and are now too scared to get in a car because they think they will die.

Stephens admitted assault, assaulting a police officer, common assault, failing to provide a specimen of blood and using threatening words and behaviour.

He was ordered to pay his victims a total of £250 compensation.

The court heard that Stephens was on antidepressants following stress at work and did not usually drink.

He told the court he did not remember any of the incident and was deeply ashamed.

Chair of the bench, Balbira Bal, said: “Emergency service staff try to help the public and should be given respect and consideration.”

Stephens, a father of one, had worked as a pastor at the Elim Pentecostal Church in Ingatestone, Essex since May 2012.

A church elder, who did not wish to be named, said : “Lee was a good person and this was totally out of character. We still do not know why it happened, I do not believe it was anything he intended to to do. He has since returned to his home in Northern Ireland.”