Teenager suffered serious leg injuries after getting onto motorbike after smoking cannabis and crashing head-on into car

Calvin Bell, 19, cycled into the car in Galsworthy Road, Whiteleas – and he remains on crutches six months later.

Bell, of Ullswater Gardens, off Temple Park Road, South Shields, hobbled into South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court.

The hearing was told police quickly realised he had been badly injured on Friday, August 27, and he was taken to hospital.

A blood sample was taken after he made a roadside confession to inhaling the class B substance earlier that day.

It showed he was over the legal limit for cannabis derivative THC - and he was driving without a licence and insurance.

Prosecutor Sarah Malkinson said: “Officers responded to a report of a collision which involved a motorcycle and a car.

“They saw the defendant lying on the pavement and a vehicle with front end damage.

“It was clear the defendant had sustained significant injuries to a leg and that he required treatment.

“He said he had smoked cannabis three hours earlier. He was transported to hospital where a blood sample was taken.

“It gave a positive reading for THC, and he was also only a provisional driver. He has no previous convictions.”

Bell pleaded guilty to drug-driving, driving without a licence and driving without insurance.

He gave a reading for THC of not greater than 6mcg per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2mcg.

Defence solicitor David Forrester said Bell had written a statement describing his regret at driving illegally.

He added: “As a result of this accident, he fractured his leg in multiple places.

“He voluntarily attended a police station five months after the accident, it was the first time he was able to.

“There was a little bit of video footage which showed his bike just before it struck the car.

“It was an accident that wasn’t attributed to the manner of driving of either of them, but he had smoked cannabis beforehand. His life has changed irreparably.”

District Judge Zoe Passfield banned Bell from driving for 15 months and fined him £180, with £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.