A young Helston mother left in a wheelchair following a road accident involving a drunk driver has had her life "turned upside down", a Truro courtroom has heard.

Lucy Ann Brown, who suffered multiple injuries in the crash, was in court to hear the man who caused those injuries sentenced to 150 days of unpaid work and banned from driving for two years.

Magistrates heard Christopher Hammill, from Breage, had drunk three-quarters of a bottle of wine before driving a tipper truck in a collision at Rosevear Hill, Mawgan, which resulted in Ms Brown being cut out of her wrecked Corsa and airlifted to hospital.

She suffered broken arms, a dislocated hip and a broken pelvis and was in traction for two and a half weeks, then told that for the foreseeable future she would be in a wheelchair.

At the time of the accident, on March 27 this year, Ms Brown had a young child with her, who suffered minor injuries but cannot be named for legal reasons.

Hammill, 58, of Higher Road, Breage, pleaded guilty to drink driving.

Tom Guest, prosecuting, said the collision occurred between Hammill's tipper truck and Ms Brown's car near a bend.

"The long term effect of Ms Brown's injuries were that for the foreseeable future she would be wheelchair bound," he told the magistrates, adding that her work as a sewing machinist had been affected because of injuries to her left hand.

"Her life has been turned upside down by her injuries," he said.

Hammill, who received a cut above his left eye, told the police Ms Brown had been "too far over", before he was tested for alcohol and registered 56 mcg in breath, 21 points over the limit. He said he had had two glasses of wine after leaving work.

Hammill told the police he had driven round a blind corner to face Ms Brown's car 18 inches over the white line, maybe more. "It was one of those things. It should not have happened," he said.

David Harvey, for Hammill, said he felt a great deal of sorrow for the injuries caused to his victim.

Before the accident, he had had two and a half glasses of wine. With the modern habit of serving wine in 250 millilitre classes, his intake was the equivalent of about three-quarters of a bottle of wine.

"I think some people are not aware of that and certainly Mr Hammill was not. He did not realise he was over the limit," he said.

He was currently going through a divorce and had had two heart attacks, all of which left him depressed.

"He made an error of judgement about what he drank due to his feeling of depression over his own private life," he added.

Following the court hearing, MPC Tim Goodwin, a traffic officer based at Camborne police station, said he was satisfied with the outcome.

"Ultimately it's not going to aid the recovery of Lucy any quicker, but the court is not there for that. They are there to deal with the offence that has occurred and Mr Hammill has been dealt with.

"The level of alcohol in his system was not as high as some of the drivers we deal with but it had a hugely detrimental impact on his driving.

"It should be taken as a warning to other drivers - it is not only about losing your licence, it is about the devastating impact your actions could have on other people, other families."