A motorcyclist needed two operations after being knocked off his bike by a drink driver, a court heard.

Supreme Court heard that Shawn Smith was driving his car on North Shore Road, in Pembroke, late on the evening of October 19, 2007, when he hit 35-year-old bike rider Mark Cannon.

Mr. Cannon suffered five broken bones and needed operations on a broken wrist and a broken ankle. As a result of the accident he also suffered nerve damage.

Yesterday Smith, 32, of Cable Hill, Devonshire, appeared before the court for sentencing after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to causing grievous bodily harm while driving a vehicle under the influence of alcohol.

Crown counsel Brett Webber said Smith identified himself as the driver of the car to Police at the scene and tried to give them a verbal account of the collision.

He added: "Police observed him unsteady on his feet and smelled intoxicants on his breath. They asked if he had been drinking and the defendant replied that he had had some drinks with friends. He had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech."

Smith was arrested and taken to a Police station where he was given a breath test which showed he had 119 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80.

Mr. Webber read an impact statement from the victim which said he spent a week at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he was given morphine for the pain. Mr. Webber said the victim had just started his own real estate agency and suffered loss of income as a result of the accident.

Marc Daniels, defending, said his client had apologised to the victim and that when Police arrived at the scene of the crash he had been "forthright in addressing Police concerns and questions".

He added: "In his social inquiry report he said he wished he could take it all back. This is clearly a one-off offence."

Mr. Daniels said Smith, who was planning to get married in the summer, had entered into a mortgage. "Without his financial contribution, the family would be in dire straits as regards payments."

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons sentenced Smith to one year in prison with nine months suspended. She also sentenced him to one year probation on his release.

As part of his probation he must: submit to drug and alcohol testing; abstain from consumption of alcohol; participate in rehabilitation programmes and abide by a 9.30 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for the first three months of the curfew.