A POLISH driver who lost his home, job and family after he crashed into a telegraph pole while fleeing a beating told a court: “Whatever sentence I get, I just want this year to be over.”

Rafal Kotlewski said he had endured an annus horriblis following the smash at the junction between Beach Road and New Barns Road, Ely on March 12 this year.

Under physical attack, the 37-year-old told Cambridge Magistrates’ Court: “I was escaping being beaten up. I drove my car under the influence of alcohol to save my life.”

But in his attempts to get away he swerved onto the kerb and hit the telegraph pole with such severity it shattered into three pieces. Passing motorist Elizabeth Curtis had to park her car across the road to stop vehicles colliding with the debris.

When she demanded the motorist hand over his keys of his Mercedes to stop him driving further, Kotlewski is reported to have said: “No police, no police.”

He was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge after suffering a bump to the head and abrasions to his hand and knee during the incident at 7.15pm. He was later arrested having been found to have 209mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood and given a 28-day prison sentence after pleading guilty to drink-driving.

However the sentence will run concurrently with another jail term he is currently serving for a domestic dispute.

Kotlewski, of no fixed abode, is also banned from driving for 20 months.

Representing himself in court, Kotlewski said: “I’ve lost everything .”