Veteran broadcaster Mike Sharpe avoided prison yesterday after being handed a three-month suspended sentence for causing bodily harm through reckless driving.

Sharpe, 49, who has worked for the Bermuda Broadcasting Company for over 20 years, was driving drunk at over 120 kilometres an hour in May of last year, when he ploughed into a motorbike driven by biologist James Woods on Kindley Field Road.

As well as the suspended sentence, Sharpe was also disqualified from driving all vehicles for 18 months and must serve out a one year probation period.

The former Olympian was originally charged with the much greater offence of grievous bodily harm through driving while intoxicated ? although after a short period of legal wrangling the Crown ultimately accepted his guilty plea to the lesser charge.

Meanwhile Dr. Woods ? who sustained a fractured tibia and had to have his leg encased in a steel frame with metal pins inserted down to the bone ? is also suing Sharpe for damages.

However, it is understood Sharpe has conceded his liability for the accident and is prepared to pay up.

But Crown counsel Anthony Blackman yesterday asked Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves to impose a three-month prison term and disqualify Sharpe from driving for 18 months ? bearing in mind particularly that he was drunk and travelling at three and a half times the legal limit.

?The defendant is wholly to blame for the accident and the resultant injuries,? he said.

?He demonstrated a high degree of recklessness and a selfish disregard for the safety of other road users. The court cannot ignore the escalating and appalling accident statistics. There is a need for order to be restored on the roads of Bermuda.?

However, Sharpe?s lawyer Richard Horseman pointed out that his client had taken a keen interest in Dr. Wood?s welfare since the accident and was already prepared to fully compensate him for his substantial financial loss and psychological distress.

His career as a television journalist would be irrevocably destroyed if he was sent to jail, he added.

?Mr. Sharpe?s remorse was evident from the very beginning,? he said.

?He never left the scene after the accident and visited Dr. Woods on several occasions when he was recovering in hospital to offer his assistance. What we have here is a momentary lapse of reason from a man who has otherwise attracted no criminal convictions and has been a dedicated servant to the community with his television work. At the time he was just going through a painful divorce and was in a period of transition complete with a high level of distress. But he is deeply sorry for his actions and is begging the court to show mercy and not impose a custodial sentence.?

Asked to speak before the sentence was handed down, a subdued Sharpe gave a short statement, apologising again for his behaviour and promising he would never be involved in such an incident again.

Satisfied of Sharpe?s remorse and previous good character ? as well as the early guilty plea ? Justice Greaves said that although the crime was ?reprehensible? and ?ought to be discouraged?, he saw no reason why a prison term was necessary in this instance.