A DRIVER who downed ten vodkas before getting behind the wheel and fracturing the skull of a colleague in an accident walked free from court.

Thomas Prothero's lawyer told a judge that no punishment could come close to the remorse he feels for almost killing one of his best fiends.

Adam Vines spent a fortnight in hospital and was put in an induced coma following the horrific accident in Redmire, North Yorkshire, in March last year.

The men were working for On Set Location Services Ltd, which provides make-up, costumes, camera trucks and portable loos for TV and film productions.

Prothero was one of four drivers on location at Bolton Castle where a film on the life of William Shakespeare, was being shot for Horrible Histories.

On the night of the accident, four weeks through a seven-week stay, the pair took what they called "the gulley sucker" to a party at the Bolton Arms, in Leyburn.

The truck - a six-ton flat-back with a huge drum, used to empty on-set toilets - was driven to the pub by Adam, Teesside Crown Court heard yesterday.

When the friends were unable to get a taxi back, Prothero insisted he was fit to drive - despite having ten vodka and cokes and two Jägerbomb shots.

After stopping on a country lane to allow Adam to relieve himself, the men had a disagreement and the passenger would not get back into the cab.

Prosecutor Dan Cordey told the court that Prothero pulled away slowly after his pal climbed on the back, but Adam fell off and cracked his head.

The 27-year-old was taken to hospital in Middlesbrough and woke up five days later - and the last thing he could remember was playing pool in the pub.

A week later, he was transferred to hospital nearer his home in Cambridgeshire, and was discharged five days after that, Mr Cordey told the court.

Doctors said he suffered swelling to the brain and a fracture to the base of his skull, but has recovered well and the two men are still friends.

Prothero, from Royston, Cambridgeshire, admitted dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice, and was given an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

Judge Howard Crowson also ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work for the community, and banned him from driving for the next 12 months.

The judge said: "This is a very unusual case of dangerous driving. Ordinarily, we deal with people who take a vehicle onto the streets at high speed, through lights, against the run of traffic at a huge risk of harm to people.

"Although there was a risk, it was a risk that two people took, which may have been influenced by the fact a good deal of drink had been consumed.

"It seems perfectly clear from the way he has dealt with this in his statement, he is continuing to acknowledge that he shares the blame."

Jonathan Harley, mitigating, said: "What shines through in his pre-sentence report most notably is the enormous regret Mr Prothero has for his actions.

"It is perhaps right to say that there probably isn't anything the court could do in the scope of the powers of sentencing which could come anywhere near what he feels for almost killing one of his best friends.

"He will live with that for the rest of his life. It has affected his emotional health during the course of these proceedings. His actions were stupid in the extreme."