Man found asleep in car parked in 'unusual place' in Leeds tells court 'I was off my face on drugs'

A member of the public alerted emergency services after finding Stephen Wilson, 21, asleep in the car on Oddy Place, Headingley, Leeds Magistrates’ Court was told.

Jess Lister, prosecuting, said police and paramedics arrived the the scene just after 7am on March 27.

Miss Lister said Wilson was unresponsive, adding: “He eventually did wake up and identified himself.

“The vehicle seemed to be blocking an entrance to a junction.

“It was parked in a very unusual place.

“He told officers he had driven there but couldn’t tell officers why he had parked in that place.

“He told officers he had smoked cannabis the night before and had taken Valium to help him sleep.”

Wilson, of King Edward Crescent, Horsforth, admitted being in charge of a motor vehicle while above the legal limit for cannabis.

He also admitted being charge of a motor vehicle while above the legal limit for diazepam.

Wilson told the court that in 2017 he had lost his mother and lost his job and that his father had “kicked him out.”

Wilson said: “I’m not denying I was off my face on drugs. It shouldn’t have happened, I was in a bad place mentally."

Wilson told the court he is now working as a chef and his father has agreed to let him return to stay with him.

Wilson added: “I’m in a much better place today.”

District Judge David Kitson fined Wilson £300 and banned him from driving for six months.

Wilson must also pay £85 towards prosecution costs.

Judge Kitson told Wilson: “The only aggravating feature is that there were two drugs in your system rather than just one.”

The court heard Wilson was only just over the prescribed limit for cannabis at 2.1 micrograms per litre of blood when the limit is 2 micrograms per litre of blood.