A DRINK driver could be facing a prison sentence after he admitted causing a road crash which claimed the life of his "kind-hearted" teenage son.Robert Pearcy, 43, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to causing the death of his 17-year-old son Nathan Pearcy through careless driving when unfit through drink.

A DRINK driver could be facing a prison sentence after he admitted causing a road crash which claimed the life of his "kind-hearted" teenage son.

Robert Pearcy, 43, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to causing the death of his 17-year-old son Nathan Pearcy through careless driving when unfit through drink.

Road safety campaigners say the tragic case highlights the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol and the devastating effects it can have on people's lives.

Pearcy, of Jubilee Avenue, Stowmarket, will be sentenced for causing the accident next month.

It happened on the A14 at Bury St Edmunds on July 10 last year. Pearcy was driving a Ford Sierra with his son in the passenger seat when it left the road, mounted an embankment and collided with a tree.

Nathan suffered serious head injuries as a result of the crash and later died in Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge.

His father was taken to the West Suffolk Hospital, Bury, suffering from a broken leg and head injuries.

Tributes poured in for the teenager, who lived at Beyton Road, Thurston, following his death.

At the time, an aunt, who did not want to be named, said: "Nathan was a happy boy, kind-hearted and caring.

"The immediate family would like to thank all their friends who left flowers on the roadside and for their kind thoughts."

Last night a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "Although drink driving offences of this kind can carry heavy prison sentences, no sentence this man is given is going to be worse than the knowledge of what he has done.

"This case illustrates the dangers of drinking and driving, people who are selfish enough to get behind the wheel when they have had a drink have no regard for over road users.

"This case should act as a reminder of the devastating affects drink driving can have, it can easily be a loved one who is hurt."