Dozing drug addict smashed into Wakefield garden after nodding off at the wheel
A drug addict high on crack cocaine said he fell asleep at the wheel in the early hours before smashing into a garden post of a residential property.
Paul Talbot, who has previous convictions for drug driving, was arrested and later found with bags of drugs stashed in his clothing.
The 35-year-old welder was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week after admitting dealing in crack cocaine and heroin, as well being over the drug-drive limit.
Shortly before 5am on March 19, Talbot drove a Seat Leon which veered off the road and into the front garden of a property on Frobisher Grove on Wakefield’s Lupset estate.
He was arrested at the scene after testing positive for drugs with a road-side swipe. He was found to be more than three times the legal limit for cocaine, prosecutor Daniel Ingham told the court.
He was taken to the police station, but it was not until hours later that an officer came into his cell to rouse him and noticed a black bag protruding from his trousers.
Talbot tried to conceal it when he noticed it had come free but it was seized by the officer. It contained 22 wraps of crack cocaine and 28 of heroin.
He was also found to have £725 in cash while an analysis of mobile phone found messages related to drug supply.
Having been released later, a warrant for his re-arrest was eventually issued after he failed to answer bail.
Talbot, of no fixed address, was later found in Batley in August and held in custody.
He has six previous convictions for 10 offences, including drug-driving matters.
Mitigating, Ayman Khokhar said Talbot’s criminality “plainly stems from his own addiction to crack cocaine”.
Talbot said he had started selling drugs for financial gain but he had himself amassed a drugs debt which he could not pay off.
Mr Khokhar said of his position as a drug dealer: “He was at the bottom of the ladder and had no influence over those above him.”
Judge Simon Phillips KC told Talbot that custody was “unavoidable”.
He gave him a 30-month sentence and banned him from driving for 51 months.