The managing director of Hayes Garden World in Ambleside, Cumbria, has been put behind bars after an appeal over a drink-drive conviction failed.
Described by the judge at Carlisle Crown Court as "desperate", 44-year-old Thomas Hayes was jailed for 18 weeks after crashing his Porsche, having drunk over four times more than the limit.

And Hayes now faces a possible charge of perverting the course of justice as well: details of the case are being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions as he and another man involved in the case are suspected of lying in court.

The prison term was first imposed on Hayes after his conviction in December but it was suspended while he lodged an appeal, maintaining that he had been a passenger and not the driver of the car when it overturned.

He said that, having had a lot to drink the night before and a vodka during the morning, he asked a friend, Derek Henderson, to drive him to the shops. He said Mr Henderson had then crashed the Porsche.

Hayes stated that he was so angry with Mr Henderson that he told him to get out of the car and go away, which explained why Hayes was the only person to be seen in the car by witnesses at the time of the crash.

Mr Henderson backed the story up, but the mechanic who recovered the car told the court that Mr Henderson would not have been able to open the smashed door and leave the car.

The judge said he thought Hayes had fabricated evidence, and described Hayes as a man who was "desperate to avoid conviction and desperate to avoid criminal responsibility and is prepared to take desperate measures".

As well as serving 18 weeks in prison Hayes has been banned from driving for almost three years and ordered to pay £850 in costs.