A drink driver has escaped jail after she crashed her car, leaving her then-boyfriend with a serious brain injury.

Nancy Madden, of Fyfield Road, Ongar, pleaded guilty to drink driving and careless driving at Chelmsford Magistrates Court on Tuesday (September 5).

The court heard the 22-year-old was driving her Fiat 500 in Hemnall Street, Epping, with her then-boyfriend when she crashed into a tree.

She sustained a serious leg injury, but the 20-year-old passenger was hospitalised for 8 months with a brain injury which is likely to take at least another year to recover from.

Neither Madden nor her passenger were wearing seatbelts, and Madden was found to have 146 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of her blood, almost twice the legal limit of 80 milligrams.

She was sentenced by magistrates to a 16-week suspended prison sentence and was also he with a 30-month driving ban.

Madden was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay a £725 on top of court costs.