
A trainee consultant surgeon who was double the drink-drive limit has narrowly avoided immediate custody after causing a head-on collision on the wrong side of a North Tyneside road just before midnight on November 24, 2024
Nayer Youakim, 37, a registrar training to be an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) consultant, left a taxi driver with a fractured shoulder, broken arm, and suspected cracked ribs following the crash on Beach Road in North Shields.
When questioned by police at the scene, Youakim claimed he had consumed "not too much, two pints."
The court heard that the taxi driver had just dropped off a fare when he was suddenly "dazed by headlights coming towards him before being crashed into." The force of the impact spun the taxi into the opposite lane, while Youakim’s vehicle mounted the pavement.
The victim, who faced a long recovery, expressed his frustration in an impact statement but noted: "I feel very lucky to be alive."
At the time of the arrest, Youakim provided a breath sample of 72 micrograms per 100ml - significantly over the 35-microgram legal limit.
Despite admitting to causing serious injury by dangerous driving and drink driving, his legal team described the event as an "extraordinary lapse of judgement" and an "isolated incident very much out of character."
Defence solicitor Laura Miller stated: "At the time he didn't deem himself to be on the wrong side of the carriageway... he wasn't trying to deliberately mislead anyone as to what happened."
Recorder Mark McKone KC opted to suspend Youakim's 18-month prison sentence for two years, citing the doctor’s "important work" and the potential harm a prison sentence would have on future patients.
The judge acknowledged the surgeon’s precarious professional future, stating: "Your status as a doctor is uncertain and your training as a consultant would end if you were sent to prison... I accept you are more likely to be suspended or struck off by the GMC if you were sent to immediate custody."
In addition to the suspended sentence, Youakim must complete 250 hours of unpaid work and has been banned from driving for two years.

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