A 32-YEAR-OLD Cam man drove onto a footpath and got his car stuck and was then arrested for driving under the influence of cocaine, a court heard on Monday.

Ryan Hawkins, of Stonelea, Cam, managed to get his Volkswagen Golf wedged there on May 19, magistrates in Cheltenham were told.

A member of the public reported seeing the car on the narrow footpath and police went to the scene and found Hawkins sitting in the driver's seat with his seatbelt on and the key in the ignition.

He had a plastic bag containing cocaine. Hawkins was tested and found to have cocaine and benzonelyecgonine – a substance which is left in the body after ingesting cocaine – in his system.

Peter Ashby, prosecuting said: “It was around 3.50 in the morning when a member of the public called saying a car was stuck down a narrow lane.”

PC Alastair McCrimmon attended the scene and said Hawkins appeared to be worse for wear: “He was unsteady on his feet.

“He was dazed, not fully with it.”

Hawkins told police another man had been driving and had run off from the scene and had later threatened him, the court heard.

He denied driving while under the influence of an excess level of cocaine.

But after hearing evidence, chairman of the bench Victoria Elbidge said: “We believe you were driving the car and that you had taken cocaine within 12 hours.

"We do not believe anyone else was in the car and find you guilty.”

The justices disqualified Hawkins from driving for three years and ordered placed him on a community order requiring him to do 240 hours of unpaid work.

He was also ordered to pay £500 and the court ordered the destruction of the cocaine.