A man who knocked down a pedestrian on a busy Shropshire road when he got behind the wheel after drinking “seven or eight pints” has avoided an immediate jail sentence.

David Mark McCoy, who runs his own business and works as a fishing guide in Spain, returned to the UK for the weekend in July last year to visit his girlfriend Emily Buckley, of Shrewsbury, and his two young children.

McCoy, 46, appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday and admitted dangerous driving and driving with excess alcohol.

The court heard McCoy had gone to a nightclub with friends on July 26 last year after spending the day fishing with his two sons.

After getting into a fight outside the club, McCoy drove a Volkswagen Golf car and was heading to his friend’s house in the early hours of July 27 when he hit pedestrian Andrew Moseley as he was crossing the Abbey Foregate gyratory system.

In an interview with police McCoy admitted he had drunk “seven or eight pints” before getting behind the wheel.

Mr Moseley, who was part of the group that had got into a disagreement with McCoy at the club, suffered minor injuries. McCoy denied he had driven into the man deliberately.

He was sentenced to 36 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Nicholas Mitchell also disqualified McCoy from driving for 18 months.

Sentencing McCoy, Judge Mitchell said: “You could have killed somebody in that car in the condition you were driving and it is fortunate the injuries suffered are not as serious as they could have been.”

Defending McCoy, Mr Earl Pinnock said: “This was a low impact collision.

“He was negotiating a blind bend and the injured party was crossing in a dangerous part of the road.”