A MOTORIST responsible for a head-on crash, badly injuring another driver, was warned yesterday that he could be facing a prison sentence.

Kenneth Raine pulled out in his Ford Scorpio to overtake two cars approaching a blind brow of a hill and collided with an oncoming Peugeot 106.

Durham Crown Court was told that the Peugeot driver, a teacher in her 20s, suffered fractures to her leg and shoulder, and has undergone two operations with another to come.

She was left in traction for 96 days in hospital and has still been unable to return to work, almost 11 months after the accident.

The court was told that Raine was driving his wife and mother home to Newton Hall, Durham, from a shopping trip in Sunderland after dark, in the early evening, last January.

Paul Cross, prosecuting, said that as Raine overtook two other vehicles, approaching a railway bridge at Bishop's Grange, the collision took place, leaving both the Scorpio and Peugeot badly damaged.

Raine admitted careless driving, but denied the more serious charge of dangerous driving, claiming he was unfamiliar with the road and could see nothing approaching ahead of him when he overtook.

But following a three-day trial, he was convicted by a jury yesterday.

Chris Morrison, for Raine, said the 49-year-old welder also suffered injuries, fracturing bones in his hand, and has had difficulty obtaining work since the accident.

Adjourning sentence for preparation of probation service reports on Raine, who has no previous convictions, Recorder David Hatton warned him: "Because I'm adjourning you must not think that your case will not ultimately be disposed of by way of a prison sentence."

Raine, of Staindrop Road, Newton Hall, was bailed to return for sentence later this month