A LLANFARIAN man who crashed his car after an eight-hour drinking spree lied to police and claimed his car had been stolen.

David Martin Glyn Thomas, 24, went on to make an insurance claim for the £3,850 car, which was written off after the crash, before confessing he had been the driver.

By then it was too late to breath-test Thomas to find out if he had been over the limit.

Thomas, of Maes y Coed, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice. He was jailed for six months, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for 12 months.

Jim Davis, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court how Thomas had driven in to Aberystwyth on 26 September 2015 to meet up with friends for a night out.

He later admitted being in the Why Not bar until 4am and at Pier Pressure until 5am. Shortly afterwards he crashed his car into a lamppost on Quebec Road, just outside the town centre.

Later that day Thomas told police he had stayed the night with a friend in Greenfield Street, Aberystwyth, and had woken to find his car keys had been stolen as well as his car.

Mr Davis said Thomas then put in an insurance claim.

Police became suspicious when he refused to give them his mobile telephone, which could have revealed his movements.

The insurance company also became suspicious and sent an agent to interview Thomas and he confessed he had lost control while trying to light a cigarette.

Janet Gedrych, the barrister representing Thomas, said he had been worried about losing his job as a senior carer in a residential home.

There had been finance outstanding on the car and he feared he would be unable to get to work without one.

She said he maintained that during the eight hours he spent in pubs he had drunk only four pints.

Judge Paul Thomas said Thomas had avoided being breathalysed at the scene and a charge of driving carelessly.

“This was a persistent attempt to pervert justice, albeit a feeble and a doomed one.

“It was an exceptionally stupid and immature thing to do,” said the judge.

Such offenders almost inevitably went to prison but Thomas carried out work that was important to the community, he added.