Drug-driver flipped his car after crashing on Sunderland’s Hylton Road

Gary Watson, 30, walked unscathed from his Renault Clio, which he left upended in the middle of Hylton Road at around 4am.

But Watson, of Tatum Street, Hendon, was seen leaving in his hi vis jacket, a hearing at South Tyneside Magistrates Court heard.

He was holding the coat when police caught up with him soon afterwards on Saturday, July 31.

A forensic reading from a blood sample put Watson, a drug user since the age of 12, over the limit for cannabis derivative THC.

Prosecutor Glenda Beck revealed Watson also had other illegal substances in his system, though none above the legal limit.

Watson, who pleaded guilty to drug driving, is starting a 25-month roads’ ban

Mrs Beck said: “Officers attended, and the vehicle involved was registered to Mr Watson.

“It had collided with a parked vehicle and overturned and had come to a stop on its roof.

“He was driving, and he alighted uninjured and walked away wearing a high-visibility coat. His car was left in the middle of the road.

“Police attended his home, and he was standing in the garden with his hi vis top in his hands.

“He was unable to account for how the vehicle had crashed. The car keys were found in his pocket.”

Watson gave a reading for THC of greater than 7mcg per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2mcg.

Drugs including acid and amphetamine were also present in his sample.

A Probation Service report said Watson had been a habitual cannabis user since his school days.

Charlton Car, defending, said: “He has little memory of what happened, but the facts speak for themselves. There’s certainly two aggravating factors.

“There’s the accident, and the manner of driving must have been atrocious, and there were other drugs in his system.”

Watson was also handed a 12-month community order, with 20 rehabilitation days.

He was fined £80, with £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.