A BELLSMYRE man whose partner was hurt and left trapped in the passenger seat after he crashed a car on the Dumbarton-Renton road has been spared a prison sentence – despite admitting driving dangerously while drunk.

Khai McLellan was almost three times over the limit when the car he was driving careered off the road and into a wall last September.

The 29-year-old was sentenced at Dumbarton Sheriff Court on Friday after admitting a series of motoring offences, all committed on the A812 on September 28 last year.

McLellan, of Murroch Avenue, had pleaded guilty to charges of dangerous driving, drink-driving, taking and driving away a vehicle without consent, driving without insurance, and driving without L plates while only holding a provisional licence.

At an earlier court hearing he had also pleaded guilty to twice failing to appear in court, on January 14 and April 1.

Sentence was deferred until Friday in order to allow social workers to prepare a background report.

McLellan, who appeared in the dock without a solicitor, declined an offer from Sheriff John Hamilton to read the background report for himself.

The sheriff said: “I’m not going to jail you. The report is relatively favourable – it basically says everything you've previously told me.

“You seem to have got yourself sorted out since this incident.

“I intend to impose a community payback order. But if you breach it, custody is an alternative. These are serious matters.”

McLellan was put under the supervision of social workers for 18 months, and was told to carry out a total of 250 hours of unpaid work by next March as a punishment.

He was also banned from driving for 18 months and had his licence endorsed on four of the five road traffic charges he faced.