A CONVICTED drink-driver who crashed his works van into a traffic light pole and then fraudulently told police the vehicle had been stolen during a burglary at his girlfriend’s home has been spared jail.

Preston Crown Court heard that in the early hours of November 3, 30-year-old Liam Cawtherley had clipped the kerb on Todmorden Road at the junction with New Road, Burnley, in the Mercedes Sprinter van and taken out the traffic light pole.

The court heard how the van belonged to his then employer William and Turner and Son for who Cawtherley had worked as an embroider for the previous nine years.

Prosecuting, Karen Brooks said that when police arrived at the scene at 4.55am they noticed the traffic light system wasn’t functioning due to an interruption in the power supply.

Ms Brooks said: “The main impact to the vehicle was to the front driver’s side, damage consistent with striking the traffic light pole which at that stage was underneath the van. The keys were still in the ignition when the officer approached and the engine was running. Only the driver’s door was slightly ajar and there were no persons present. The driver’s airbag had been deployed as a result of the collision.

“The surrounding area was searched by the officer to no effect.”

Ms Brooks said that at that stage there was no report the vehicle had been stolen but at 2.10pm Cawtherley contacted the police to say it had been stolen as part of a burglary at his partner’s address.

On November 9 Cawtherley signed a written statement at Burnley Police Station, claiming that he was not the driver and reiterating that the van had been stolen.

Cawtherley was called back into the station when the officer subsequently received a forensic report stating that the defendant’s DNA had been found on the deployed airbag.

Ms Brooks said: “At the beginning of that interview the defendant maintained the vehicle had been stolen as part of the burglary. He was then informed of the existence of the DNA on the deployed airbag. He then admitted he was the driver.

“He said the conditions were difficult, it was foggy and he collided with the traffic lights. He panicked and walked away from the incident, worried he would lose his driving licence and his job. He accepted lying and wasting police time.”

Cawtherley, of Nightingale Crescent, Burnley, who has five convictions for seven offences, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and failing to report an accident.

Defending, Anthony Parkinson said his client lost his job a a result of the incident but was able to get new employment within two weeks.

However, he said the fact Cawtherley was having to work longer hours to match his previous salary was impacting on the amount of days he could look after his children as part of his shared custody arrangement.

Mr Parkinson said: “He is a very hard-working man.

"The prosecution themselves, within the statement from John Turner, describe him as a hard-working man who had held a position at that firm for the last nine years, somebody who the company had never had issues with, and to his credit the company is looking in the future at taking him back on should a role become available.”

Sentencing Cawtherley to six months imprisonment, but suspending it for 12 months, Judge Simon Medland QC said: “People who lie to the police commit a serious offence, however tempting it may be."

Cawtherley was made subject of a two-month curfew from 9pm to 6am Monday to Thursday, with nine penalty points and £300 prosecution costs.