A MOTORIST involved in a crash with a lorry on the A595 after he was seen veering to the wrong side of the road was under the influence of cocaine.

Magistrates at Carlisle's Rickergate court heard how Adam Bendjerard, 33, was seen driving erratically on the road as he headed towards Carlisle just after 7am on March 28. He escaped serious injury despite colliding with an oncoming wagon, prosecutor Amy Labram told the court.

The defendant, of Blencarn Park, Rockcliffe, near Carlisle, admitted driving while over the specified limit for a cocaine breakdown product. He was just under three times the legal limit.

Miss Labram described how Bendjerard's Citroen Berlingo van came to rest after the accident on the road's grass verge. Police administered a roadside breath test which proved negative for alcohol. But noticing that the defendant's speech was slurred, the officers tested him for cocaine.

"He showed no remorse," said Miss Labram. He asked the officers why he was getting charged when there are sex offenders who get away with everything. The prosecutor said the defendant had 33 offences on his criminal record, including convictions for drugs offences. Miss Labram said Bendjerard had posed a significant risk to other road users.

Jeff Smith, for Bendjerard, said the defendant recalled only clipping the lorry that was involved in the accident after colliding with it from behind.

The lawyer outlined how the defendant had overcome a difficult children, his father having battled with gambling and alcohol issues before divorcing Bendjerard's mother when he was seven. Also during his early children, the defendant's grandmother had been fatally injured in a car crash.

Yet he had not been given counselling or treatment.

The lawyer said: "He knows he's going to be disqualified from driving and he has shown a great deal of regret. He says he has not taken drugs since [the accident]. There is heroin in his background; it is a drug to which he was addicted for a while. It's a major achievement to recover from heroin addiction.

"He did the 12-point plan and he is now clean of that drug.

"He had been drug free since his release from Durham Prison and he can't provide any explanation of why he took that drug on that day. He was foolish beyond comprehension to take cocaine, which led to the accident. He apologises."

Magistrates imposed a 12 month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work in the community, along with £85 prosecution costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

They banned Bendjerard from the road for 18 months.