A drug-fuelled driver crashed head-on into a 1967 classic car on a busy road in Northumberland.
Adam Flynn had taken cocaine the night before he got behind the wheel of his BMW coupe and started travelling in the middle of the road on the A68, near Healey.
A court heard that a vintage vehicle, with two people inside, was coming in the opposite direction but the 29-year-old failed to see them.
Despite the driver of the other car trying to move as far so the side of the carriageway as he could, Flynn didn’t take evasive action and crashed head-on into them.
The impact caused the classic vehicle to spin and come to rest on a grass verge, while Flynn smashed into a tree.
Paramedics and police were called and it was discovered the male driver and female passenger of the other car suffered cuts and whiplash.
South East Northumberland Magistrates’ Court was told that officers spoke to Flynn and noticed he had slurred speech, glazed eyes and was sweating.
However, he wasn’t drug tested until later as he needed to be taken to hospital for treatment to an injury to his ankle.
Those tests revealed he was over the legal limit for cocaine.
Flynn, of Brinkburn Avenue, Saltwell, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to driving over the drug limit during a hearing on Thursday.
Laura Lax, prosecuting, said the victims were travelling on the A68 at 2.40pm on August 28 last year when they saw Flynn’s BMW.
She told magistrates: “The road has a number of dips and crests on it and, as the witness emerged over the top of a crest travelling between 40 and 50mph, he noticed a black BMW in the middle of the road coming towards him.
“It was over the centre white lines. The witness tried to get his vehicle as close to the side of the road as he could but the defendant took no evasive action and ended up colliding with the witness’ vehicle.
“It caused the witness’ vehicle to spin in the road until it came to rest fully on a grass verge. The defendant’s vehicle also collided with a tree.”
The court heard that the victim reported the accident and the police and an ambulance arrived.
Miss Lax added: “The paramedics were attending to the defendant. Officers noticed his speech was slurred and his eyes were glazed and he was sweating.”
Flynn's car was written-off because of the accident but, due to a premium insurance policy held by the vintage car owner, that vehicle was repaired.
Sophie Lamb, defending, said Flynn was extremely sorry for his actions and wished to apologise to the court and the victims.
She added: "He was taking cocaine the night before and he believed it was out of his system and he was ok to drive.
"He accepts this incident could have been very serious indeed and he considers himself very lucky that the other people were not seriously injured or worse."
Giving Flynn a 12-month community order, with 150 hours of unpaid work, District Judge Bernard Begley said: "It could have been so much more serious than it actually was, other than vehicles being written-off."
Flynn was also banned from driving for 20 months.
