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A banned driver drank eight pints of lager before crashing his car into a tree and ending up in a ditch when he lost control on a corner.

A woman had told him that a man had sexually abused her and he was so angry at what he heard that he impulsively drove off to confront the person and find out what was going on, a court heard.

Simon Barker, 33, of Crosby House, Scunthorpe, admitted drink-driving, driving while disqualified and having no insurance on March 11.

Martin Howarth, prosecuting, told Grimsby Magistrates' Court that Barker crashed his Renault Clio into a tree and ended up in a ditch after trying to brake on a corner on Key Lane, Burton-Upon-Stather, in the early hours.

He was inside the car when police arrived and checks revealed he had been banned from the roads for 18 months in May 2006 following a conviction at Grimsby Crown Court for dangerous driving and remains banned until an extended test is passed.

A breath test revealed he had 84mcg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg.

The probation service told the court that Barker had drunk eight pints of lager at a nightclub after walking there. A woman had "blurted out" that a man had supposedly sexually abused her years earlier and he wanted to confront the man.

He admitted that he was putting the public at risk by getting into the car. He had convictions for driving while banned.

Ian Durant, mitigating, said that the woman had "bottled up" what she claimed happened to her and Barker originally had no intention of driving.

"It was a knee-jerk reaction to take the law into his own hands and try to find out what was going on," said Mr Durant.

Barker, a recycling officer, was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence and 200 hours' unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for two years and was ordered to pay £85 costs and a Government-imposed £115 victims' surcharge.

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