A drink-driver suffered head injuries when he crashed into a wall while trying to get away from police, a court heard.

Thomas Murphy was jailed for a total of three years at Oxford Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to burglary, dangerous driving, driving with excess alcohol and having no insurance.

He had been seen by police driving a Vauxhall Cavalier at speeds of between 60-85mph in a 30mph zone. Murphy was disqualified from driving for three years and ordered to take an extended driving test.

In a separate incident, Murphy, 31, of Station Approach, Banbury, stole handbags from the home of a 70-year-old woman. He had posed as a builder offering to carry out repairs, and he took the bags while she was upstairs checking to see if she needed any work done.

Murphy had previous convictions for two other burglaries on pensioners.

Christopher Smith, defending, said ten days before the burglary Murphy's wife had given birth to a premature child. He said it was an unsophisticated offence and money from the handbags had been recovered.

Mr Smith added that Murphy had a long-standing drugs problem.

He crashed into a wall, suffering head injuries. A blood test later showed that he was over the drink-drive limit and was uninsured.

A FATHER was jailed for three years for his third burglary on pensioners and other offences.

In the latest incident, Thomas

David Bright, prosecuting, told Oxford Crown Court yesterday that, by coincidence, the woman was expecting someone to inspect her home for repairs and she let him.

Mr Bright said that in a separate incident,