TOWN coach Terry Yorath avoided jail for drink driving because it was feared he could kill himself.
The terrible state of his mental health as he awaited sentencing led a probation officer to label him as a suicide risk.
And that shock summary of Yorath's desperate situation helped convince a judge that a community service order was the best option.
Yorath today revealed the depth of his torment over the accident in his autobiography, Hard Man, Hard Knocks, which will be serialised next week in the Examiner.
He admits his own surprise at the probation officer's assessment as he awaited the court case, following the accident which left pedestrian Raziya Aslam badly injured.
But he conceded he was terrified of the thought of prison.
The 54-year-old former Wales international and manager was more than three times the drink-drive limit when he hit and badly injured Miss Aslam in Leeds.
He admits he had drunk heavily in the hours leading up to the accident - and that he was warned by his solicitor that jail was likely.
Yorath recalls: "The morning after the Town v Hartlepool match, I got up and made myself a cup of tea before going to pick up my mail. As I returned from the hall to the lounge, I started to flick through the post and noticed an official-looking envelope with a Leeds postmark on it.
"It seemed as if the probation report had arrived. The key to my whole future was contained in this document. So much depended on its contents.
"Although I dreaded what was inside, I was desperate to know. I sat down on the sofa, opened the envelope, took a deep breath and started to read. Two paragraphs in the report shook me to the bone.
"They read: `Mr Yorath's current frame of mind leaves me with great concerns about his potential for suicide especially if he receives a custodial sentence.
`The isolation and loneliness which currently exists would be exacerbated in custody and I fear for Mr Yorath's ability to deal with such a sentence.
`Mr Yorath's acute feelings of having brought shame on his family could also affect his ability to cope.'"
Yorath said the report also examined what would happen if Huddersfield Town sacked him as a result of the court case. Again, suicide was a fear.
`The impact of a custodial sentence on Mr Yorath could be the loss of his life. As I have stated earlier, I am concerned about his ability to cope with such a disposal.
`A less serious but nonetheless further potential consequence would be the loss of his job as the deputy manager of Huddersfield Town.'
"I couldn't quite believe what I'd just read so I went back and read it again. It was weird and a real shock to actually see those comments in black and white from somebody in the probation service who didn't really know me.
"He had come in cold to my case and had given his professional opinion after meeting me just once. It shocked me to think that somebody would consider me to be in that frame of mind.
"In my view, I hadn't been suicidal but I had been stressed out and depressed about everything – especially since my first court appearance as I waited to be sentenced.
"It had been a lousy time but I had never felt like ending my life. I hadn't come near that position at all."
Yorath talks about his immense relief at the court decision not to jail him and the profound effect the community service order had on his life.
He tells how he mucks out riding stables, used by disabled people, and works with elderly people.
"The drink-driving conviction has been a turning point in my life.
"Despite everything that's happened, I'm confident about the future. I think I've bottomed out with the accident.
"I couldn't go any lower and it's time to move on.
"I can't keep sitting around crying. I know I have to look forward not back. The judge has given me a second chance and I must take it."
Grahame Lloyd, the co-writer and publisher of Hard Man, Hard Knocks, expressed his concerns.
"I was very surprised when Terry told me about the contents of the probation report in the final interview for the book about a week after he had been sentenced.
"Since the drink-driving incident, Terry had obviously been depressed - especially during the three weeks between his court appearances - but he had never talked about taking his own life. He was ashamed and very remorseful but he hadn't given me the impression of being suicidal.
"But the professional opinion of the probation officer was the one that counted and he considered there was a risk of suicide.
"In mitigation, Terry's solicitor had told the court that Terry's life had been `beset by tragedy' and the judge obviously decided that there was a risk of it ending in tragedy had Terry been sent to jail."
