Jamie Tandy, 24, was battling an alcohol problem in the "darkest period of his life" when he attempted to kill himself by crashing his vehicle into a lamp-post, magistrates were told.

Both his feet were in plaster at the time of the suicide bid after he suffered two freak accidents which resulted in broken metatarsals.

Tandy admitted two counts of drink-driving and one count of driving while disqualified.

Barton stubbed a lit cigar in his former team-mate's face during a Manchester City Christmas party in 2004.

No police action was taken at the time although Barton was fined by the club, but now the ex-City trainee is pursuing a civil claim for damages.

Tandy, of Stanway Road, Whitefield, alleges he suffered a "major psychiatric deterioration" following the incident, which he said ultimately forced him out of the game at the top level.

He was released by Manchester City in 2005 and the midfielder is now playing for Blue Square North team Droylsden.

No reference was made to the Barton incident during today's sentencing at Manchester Magistrates' Court.

Jennifer Baines, prosecuting, said police were called to the scene of the lamppost crash in Quay Street at around 4am on February 15 last year.

The vehicle was extensively damaged and the defendant lay on the ground 200 yards away as he drifted in and out of consciousness, she said.

He was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary and later recorded a blood alcohol reading of 197mg per 100ml of blood - the legal limit being 80mg.

Six months later Tandy was stopped again in Manchester city centre and was caught over the drink-drive limit. A roadside breathalyser test showed 56mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35mg.

On both occasions he had no driving licence or insurance.

He appeared before magistrates and pleaded guilty to the offence in August but initially denied the February drink-driving charge.

Tandy was given an interim disqualification from driving until the matter was settled but breached that order when he took to the wheel in November.

Ms Baines said he was followed by officers in Whitefield when speeding and then attempted to make off on foot when he stopped his car in Thatch Leach Lane.

He soon gave up the chase though and admitted to police: "It's me you want. I'm banned."

Ms Baines said: "When cautioned he said 'I have been stupid, I have just come out of rehab'.

"He said he was going to Tesco to get some medicine for his young child who was teething."

Andrew Cowan, defending, said the drink-driving offences came in the "darkest period of his life".

"They were all committed in a background of relationship and financial problems in which he used alcohol as a coping mechanism."

Tandy also had a gambling habit and had since checked himself into the Sporting Chance rehabilitation clinic - also visited by Barton.

A letter of reference presented to the court from the clinic's chief executive Peter Kay stated that "the future bodes well" for Tandy after he followed its advice.

Reading from the letter, Mr Cowan said: "Jamie has recognised and made a major leap forward as regards his addiction issues".

He added that a pre-sentence report on Tandy had acknowledged his client was the victim of a "run of bad luck".

Tandy was working as a scaffolder when an untrained colleague was said to have dropped a bar on his head and knocked him out.

Mr Cowan said he complained to his employers which led to him losing his job.

He then broke his foot when he fell into a pothole in football training and fractured a metatarsal in the other foot when getting off his team's coach.

Unemployed and with both feet in plaster he drove at a speed of 50mph at the lamppost, Mr Cowan said.

Tandy suffered a ruptured bowel and half of it was removed under surgery, while he also caught a C. difficile infection in hospital.

Tandy had no previous driving convictions but was given a community order sentence in May 2007 for an offence of affray.

Mr Cowan urged the magistrates not to impose a custodial sentence because it would increase the risk of a relapse of alcohol misuse.

Magistrates agreed and imposed a term of 12 weeks, suspended for a year.

He was also banned from driving for three years, ordered to perform 100 hours of unpaid community work and pay £120 court costs.

Last July, Barton, 26, was released from jail after serving 74 days of a six-month sentence for beating up a teenager in Liverpool city centre.

He is currently serving a suspended sentence for a separate assault on ex-Manchester City colleague Ousmane Dabo in a training ground bust-up.