Christie guilty of careless driving

The former athlete and presenter described the accident in which four people were injured as “one of the worst moments in my life” after he was disqualified for 15 months and fined £5,000 for careless driving.

Christie, 51, who was also ordered to pay £1,000 prosecution costs, was cleared of the more serious charge of dangerous driving, which he had denied, after a two-day trial at Aylesbury Crown Court in Buckinghamshire. He still, however, faces civil claims in connection with the crash.

In a statement, Christie express his regret to all concerned and added: “I know that this incident will stay with me for a very long time and I can only sincerely apologise again for what remains one of the worst moments of my life.”

Christie had set off to buy a pint of milk on the evening of the crash.

He was making his way back along the unlit road between 11.30pm and 11.40pm when he crashed into the silver Mercedes coming from a venue named Merlin’s Cave, in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire.

The former athlete acknowledged he had been on the wrong side of the carriageway.

Newly-married Peter Ashton, 58, had to be dragged from the vehicle along with wife Claire Lloyd-Ashton, 43, and her uncle Michael Burt.

The bride suffered bruising to her chest and knees, while her husband was in hospital for four days after suffering a punctured lung and four broken ribs.

Mr Burt, 61, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was in hospital for two months, and taxi driver Naeem Akhtar, 55, for three-and-a-half months.