A DRIVER who was 79 times over the drug-drive limit when he crashed into another car on a busy motorway in the middle of the afternoon has been banned from driving for three years.

Lee Ainsworth, 34, of Lenten Street, Alton, crashed on the M3, close to Junction 6 for Basingstoke, shortly before 3.45pm on Friday, April 28.

He pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention and driving whilst unfit to drive through drugs at Basingstoke Magistrates Court yesterday (Thursday).

The hearing heard that toxicology tests revealed the amount of Benzoylecgonine, a product of the human body's metabolism of cocaine, in his system was 79 times over the specified amount allowed in law for that substance.

The court heard how Ainsworth was driving a Ford Focus when it collided into the back of a Jaguar on the M3.

In the crash, a passenger with Ainsworth in the the Focus suffered a facial injury which required hospital treatment. The male driver of the Jaguar and the female passenger suffered minor injuries.

Christopher Pike, from the Hampshire Roads Policing Unit, said: “We were truly shocked when we received the test results.

“By getting behind the wheel that day, knowing how much he had taken, he showed total disregard for the lives of others and it is sheer luck that no one was seriously hurt or killed.

“No level of drink or drug driving is acceptable but this was on another scale to anything I have come across before and is one of the highest readings the force has seen.

“We hope this case sends a strong message that we will continue target those who keep on ignoring these laws.

“The laws are there to protect people’s lives and drink or drug driving is not worth the risk. The consequences can be fatal.”

Ainsworth was also sentenced to a 12 month community order, disqualified from driving for three years and ordered to do 180 hours unpaid work.

He will also have to pay £85 in costs and an £85 victim surcharge.