A student living in Falmouth has avoided jail despite admitting hitting two women in Helston while drink driving.

Lochlann Gray, from Queen Mary Road, was given two six-month prison sentences to run one after another, as well as 12-week prison sentence to run alongside them, which were all then suspended for two years by magistrates in Truro, following his guilty pleas.

The 21-year-old admitted two charges of driving a blue Peugeot 108 dangerously, while being almost three times the legal limit with 97 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath on April 15, Easter weekend.

He also pleaded guilty to failing to stop after an accident, when he hit Alisha Richards and another woman, named locally as Esme Lansdowne, after leaving Shooters Bar in Coinagehall Street at around 4am.

At the time of the incident, Miss Richards told the Packet how she had been on her mobile phone calling the police after Gray's car hit Miss Lansdowne when she had caught his eye - and moments later was on the ground.

She said at the time: "All I remember was being in front of the car and him giving me eye contact, and then next minute I could see people stood around me and shouting my name."

The teenager, who believed she must have blacked out for a moment after an alleged impact, suffered a swollen and bruised ankle that meant she struggled to walk for a time, as well as a sore head where she hit it and bruising and aching all over. She was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, where she was treated for five hours.

In addition to his suspended prison sentences, Gray was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months and pay costs of £85, as well as a £115 victim surcharge. He was disqualified from holding a driving licence for two years.

At court, Gray was described by his solicitor as being "distraught" by the incident, adding that he had intended to drive that night but not drink.