A man has been sentenced today (Friday) after pleading guilty to drug driving and careless driving.

Raymond Small, 27, of Huntingdon, was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for 30 months at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

On the morning of March 6, Small was driving a fully-laden 20-tonne light goods vehicle northbound on the A12 at Three Mile Hill, Chelmsford, when it collided at 56mph with a broken down BMW M3.

The driver and passenger of the BMW were not in the car at the time of the collision and were not injured.

Small admitted that he had smoked cannabis before driving his lorry on the day of the incident.

PC Martin Beale, of Essex Police’s casualty reduction team, said: “Thankfully, the occupants of the BMW had left the car moments before the lorry collided with their vehicle. It was only partially in lane one at the time of the collision and other cars saw that the hazard lights were blinking and were easily navigating around it.

“I have no doubt that if the occupants of the BMW had not been standing at the side of the road, the results would have been fatal.

“This whole incident could have been prevented if Raymond Small had not smoked cannabis before getting into his lorry. I would urge anyone who acts in this way and believes they will not be dealt with robustly, to think again.

“Our advice to drivers whose cars have broken down is to exit the vehicle immediately and contact emergency services if they’re on a busy road.”