A DIABETIC man who kicked the door of a car could not remember the incident because he was having a blackout at the time, a court was told.

Andrew Spiers was walking home from the Dragon Inn, in The Tything, Worcester, with his drunken girlfriend when she collapsed, causing him to panic and his blood sugar level to drop.

Droitwich magistrates were told how Spiers thought the woman was dead as she "looked like a corpse" and when he could not pick her up became annoyed and kicked the door of a Ford Fiesta.

The 43-year-old admitted causing criminal damage. Susan Cliff, prosecuting, said the car had belonged to Spiers' neighbour, Adrian Jones, who found a note on the windscreen.

"The defendant apologised for the damage to the door but said he couldn't recollect doing it as his sugar was low and asked him to pop round and sort out the damage," she said.

"Although Mr Spiers said he would give him some money, he never did."

Judith Kenney, defending, admitted Spiers, of Rodborough Drive, Warndon, Worcester, could not rely on the legal defence of being a diabetic as he had not taken responsibility for his own health.

"He changed his plea as he thought that by having a blackout, caused by diabetes, it would be a legal defence.

"But on that particular night, he'd drunk four pints of dry cider and eaten bags of crisps which would only have given him half what he needed to avoid an attack," she said.

"He remembers being in a taxi and then the woman falling over but said she looked like a corpse and he got very distressed and blacked out.

"He's horrified by the damage to the vehicle but realises the defence option of being a diabetic was not open to him."

Spiers was fined £50, ordered to pay £250 compensation, and ordered to pay £50 court costs.