A student radiographer was caught drink driving after he crashed into a roundabout.

Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard police were called to Richardson Road, Blunsdon at 3am on September 12 last year after a member of the public reported that a silver Ford Fiesta had struck a roundabout.

When officers arrived they found 28-year-old Samuel Richardson still at the scene with his 53-plate Fiesta.

He blew a positive reading for alcohol at the roadside. Taken to Gablecross police station, he provided a reading of 57mcgs of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Appearing before the court on Wednesday, Richardson, of Bright Street, Gorse Hill, pleaded guilty to drink driving. He had no previous convictions.

Ann Ellery, defending, said her client had been out drinking with friends earlier in the evening. When the group went to one member of the party’s homes, Richardson left his car parked at the pub.

However, the party disbanded in the early hours, with Richardson responsible for walking another member of the group – who was unwell – home.

They tried to walk but she kept falling over and, when they passed the pub car park he “took the foolish decision to drive her home”. He was on his way home after dropping her off that he crashed into the roundabout.

Ms Ellery said her client was a student radiographer and was so well regarded that he had been running the department in the Bristol hospital in which he had been working as a placement student. He needed to drive as he worked shifts in the NHS. He lived at home with his parents and had large student loan debts.

Banning Richardson from driving for 12 months, District Judge Joanna Dickens told him she had kept the period of the disqualification to a minimum. She said: “We need to ensure people working in the NHS are mobile, even though you have committed a serious offence.”

He was fined £200 and ordered to pay a £34 victim surcharge.