A DRUG driver has been ordered to carry out community work after being involved in a crash.

Oliver Beatty, from Leigh, was behind of the wheel of a car while uninsured and without a licence to drive a vehicle of that class.

The 25-year-old appeared before Warrington Magistrates’ Court recently on charges of failing to report an accident, wilful obstruction of a highway and driving without third party insurance.

He was also charged with drug driving and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence, with the defendant pleading guilty to all charged.

The facts of the case were outlined by prosecutor Christopher Howard, who explained to the court how all of the offences occurred on June 26 last year.

Beatty was driving a Volvo V60 on Tarporley Road in Stretton, Warrington – while there was no third-party insurance in force and otherwise than in accordance with a licence authorising him to drive a motor vehicle of that class.

He was then involved in a road traffic accident whereby damage was caused to another vehicle.

Beatty did not give his name and address to the owner of the other vehicle, having reasonable grounds to do so, and failed to report the accident at a police station.

He wilfully obstructed the free passage along Tarporley Road without lawful authority or excuse, with a blood test revealing the presence of the controlled drug benzoylecgonine in excess of the specified limit.

Magistrates took everything said into account and sentenced Beatty, of Balmoral Drive in Leigh, to a 12-month community order, including 200 hours of unpaid work.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years and ordered to pay costs to the Crown Prosecution Service of £120 and a victim surcharge of £114.