A drink driver who ploughed a hired Audi A3 into a minibus full of schoolchildren and three cars leaving behind a £24,500 trail of damage has been jailed for 18 months.

Judge John Warner told father-of-three Nicholas Cane: “Your driving was really dreadful. It was a miracle nobody was seriously injured.”

Cane, aged 26, was two-and-a-half times the drink drive limit when he drove off in a friend’s Audi, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Rhyddian James, prosecuting, said he smashed into a 17-seater mini-bus carrying 14 children aged under 14, causing more than £6,000 damage and leaving one boy suffering a slight head injury.

He then careered on along Lower Street, Tettenhall, Wolverhampton hitting a Mercedes so hard it was knocked onto the pavement leaving the driver with an £8,000 bill.

The Audi then struck a Peugeot before causing a further £1,500 damage to a garden wall and writing off a £9,000 Mini.

Crane, of Tettenhall Road, Wolverhampton, admitted aggravated vehicle taking, driving with excess alcohol and without insurance or a licence and he was further disqualified from driving for five years.

The court was told he had previous convictions for driving dangerously, while disqualified and also for careless driving.

David Bratt defending described the incident as “crass stupidity”.

“It was an appalling piece of driving and he accepts the consequences could have been far more serious,” he added.

“He had gone to the vehicle with the intention of collecting some cigarettes.

“A combination of drink and the nature of the incident means that he has little recollection of exactly what happened and why.”