A 37-year-old man who caused serious injuries after sending a vehicle hurtling down a Powys hillside has avoided jail.

Judge Niclas Parry said it was "nothing short of miraculous" that nobody had died after Aaron Dodd was convicted of dangerous driving following a trial at Mold Crown Court on September 30.

The court was told how, at around 5pm on September 9, 2020, Dodd's grey BMW 120d had collided with another vehicle on the B4391 between Bala and Llangynog before careering off the steep embankment and rolling several times before coming to rest.

Three people had been injured in the collision, including the defendant, and one man had been taken to hospital.

A search and rescue operation was launched after the vehicle had been found empty at the bottom of the hillside, involving police, fire and mountain rescue services, before the driver was located in a nearby village.

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A victim impact statement read to the court during a sentencing told how the driver of the other vehicle had been left traumatised, after sustaining chest injuries which had led to him being hospitalised following the collision.

He said he had been unable to go back to his job in a nearby factory since the incident and found himself "flinching" when approached by other cars while riding as a passenger.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Niclas Parry said Dodd, of Shaw Road, Shrewsbury and an electrician by trade, had been guilty of a "shocking piece of dangerous driving."

"Those who have viewed the dashcam and who saw your aggressive driving on a very dangerous road, frankly gasped (at the footage)," he said.

"Anybody viewing the post accident position of those vehicles will form the view that it's little short of miraculous that no one was killed.

"That is seriously aggravated by your previous convictions; a remarkable three separate occasions of driving with excess alcohol. You clearly have a disregard for the safety of other users of the road."

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However he added that he had taken account of "significant mitigation" in the case, including the age of the previous convictions, and the continuing effect in Dodds' own life as a result of injuries sustained in the accident.

He said the character references he had received showed he was a "good family man" with a "good work ethic" and said he bore in mind the impact of a potential custodial sentence on the defendant's three children.

There were audible gasps of relief from the defendant's family in the public gallery as Dodd was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He was ordered to complete 300 hours of unpaid work, and disqualified from driving for two years.