Hull KR player Bradley Takairangi avoids jail after crashing head-on into police car

Hull KR rugby player Bradley Takairangi has been spared jail after driving his Mercedes the wrong way along the A63 and crashing head-on into a police vehicle.Takairangi was more than twice over the legal drink-drive limit at the time when he drove down the wrong side of a dual carriageway at around 70mph and crashed into a police car.

The court heard that a police officer was left with an injured knee and suffered serious psychological effects as a result of the incident. The rugby player admitted dangerous driving and drink-driving. He was handed a one-year suspended prison sentence. Judge John Thackray QC told Takairangi that he was going to receive "exactly the same sentence" that he would have received if he had been "a plumber, a bricklayer, a doctor or a lawyer" for the offences.

He added: "You should not have been behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, such was your level of intoxication."Takairangi was ordered to pay £2,000 compensation to the police officer and was banned from driving for two years. He was also given 300 hours' unpaid work which will involve coaching young people at local clubs in the Hull and East Riding area.