THE father of a young man nearly killed in a road crash has criticised the "derisory" £300 fine handed to the culprit.

Elliott Gemmell has been banned from the road for drink driving after a near-fatal car crash near Alresford.

Gemmell, 24, of Thornton Close, admitted driving with excess alcohol in a blue Renault Clio on Bighton Road near the town.

Two passengers in his car were seriously injured when the Clio slewed off the road and struck a tree on November 27.

His reading was 91 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood when the legal limit is 80.

Gemmell was fined £300, ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge and disqualified from driving for 16 months.

The father of one victim attended magistrates court to read out an impact statement.

The father, who asked not to be named, told the Chronicle, "Our son sustained serious head injuries and another passenger was badly injured in a road accident before Christmas.

"The driver, who admitted to be significantly drunk, received a driving ban of just 16 months and a derisory fine of £300.

"The driver's genuine remorse is an important factor, but where is the deterrent here for others who decide to drive in similar circumstances and cause near fatalities?

"I have yet to meet anyone since who didn’t think that the charge, ban and fine were completely inadequate given the facts. It seems absolutely no deterrent and a green light for any others in his peer group to take a similar risk after having drunk so much."

The father said the family did feel sympathy for Gemmell, but added: "It seems that we have now reached the point where action can only be taken on the basis of something that can be directly measured, such as a blood alcohol level or whether someone actually dies or not - and then it is entirely based on tariffs with little or no flexibility.

"Effectively the huge cost to the NHS and emergency services, running into hundreds of thousands of pounds and significant impact on my son and our family has effectively been ignored."