A MAN who received £150,000 damages for serious injuries he suffered in a road accident, spent the money on drugs, a court heard yesterday.

Harrogate magistrates were told that Gary Buck continued to use cannabis to numb the pain he still suffered.

Buck, 28, pleaded guilty to three possession charges involving 223 grammes of cannabis and cannabis resin, 16 LSD tablets and a small amount of Ecstasy.

Martin Butterworth, prosecuting, said police found the drugs when they raided the home Buck shares with his parents, in Eleanor Drive, Harrogate, on October 15.

In mitigation, Geoffrey Rogers said Buck, who was living on £75 a week benefits, had not worked for seven years because of the severe injuries, including lung damage, he suffered in the motorcycling accident.

Buck turned to drugs mainly as a result of his injuries, and, after receiving £150,000 in damages, he spent a large portion of it on class A drugs.

Mr Rogers said that Buck - who had received another £5,000 compensation after a second accident - had recently been using only cannabis.

''He takes it on a daily basis because it takes away the pain he still has from his injuries," he said.

Buck had just bought £700 of cannabis when the police arrived. He said the other drugs had been in his bedroom for many months.

Mr Rogers said: ''If he is not on cannabis, he becomes very angry very quickly. He decided to take cannabis to keep himself calm and pain-free."

Buck was fined £150, with £50 costs, and told the seized drugs would be destroyed.