A drug-driver has been given an 18-month ban after causing a crash while driving on the wrong side of the road.

The victim had been driving a Suzuki Swift on April 7 when she was involved in a road traffic collision with a Vauxhall Mokka driven by Mark Richardson, 31, at the Seascale / Gosforth junction on the A595.

Pamela Fee, prosecuting, told Workington Magistrates’ Court, that the victim had just come round the corner when she saw headlights on her side of the road. 

She began to slow down but Richardson was not moving back on to the right side of the road. She had to steer right as he “seemed to be out of control”. 

The front left of her vehicle collided with the front left of Richardson’s vehicle. He got out of the car, along with a young girl and then began running, shouting, “you need to get out of your car, it’s smoking.” 

The victim said Richardson was doing a lot of pacing and gave her a hug. 

She said the collision had caused her to have very bad bruising. She said Richardson had accepted liability for the matter.

A statement from PC Begby, who attended the incident said he saw a long scrape along the defendant’s vehicle. He said he had crashed into a bridge and that was prior to the second crash. 

A drugs wipe was positive for cannabis. The officer said Richardson started to become stressed following his arrest. 

He was placed into the rear of the police vehicle and appeared more drowsy.

He frequently fell off his seat and at one point didn’t respond to checks on his welfare, the court was told. 

A blood sample was taken at the police station, which showed he had 2.8mcg of Delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The limit is 2mcg. 

Ms Fee said other drugs were present in the sample but none were over the prescribed limit.

Richardson, of Longbarrow, Cleator Moor, had pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit, at a hearing on October 24.

A pre-sentence report had been prepared by the probation service before he was sentenced on Monday.

John Cooper, defending, said: “He said he scraped the car on a bridge and had to change a tyre. It was the first time he had done it.

“He felt the car wasn’t driving as it was before. He feels that might have contributed to his ability to drive.

“He has been quite badly assaulted. He was attacked at his home address the afternoon he came back from court.”

Magistrates banned Richardson from driving for 18 months. He was given a 12-month community order with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

The defendant was also fined £120 and must pay £85 costs and a £95 victim surcharge.

READ MORE: Drug-driver on wrong side of the road caused crash on the A595 at Seascale