A COCAINE user was told by a judge to lay off the drug and go for a pint of beer instead.

Teesside Crown Court heard how Paul Wetherill’s life fell apart after he developed an allergy from welding fumes, meaning he could no longer work.

He had also experienced family difficulties.

While at a low ebb, Wetherill was clocked by police doing 100mph on the 70mph restricted Flatts Lane, which connects Middlesbrough to Guisborough, and 50mph on Ormesby Bank, where the limit is 30mph.

His barrister Graeme Gaskin said that the incident on October 17 last year happened when he was at the end of his tether.

He said: “He is a decent individual and has been hard working. He has been candid with the police and needs sit-down help.”

Wetherill, 31, of Cowpen Crescent, Stockton, admitted dangerous driving. Reading from a pre-sentence report which mentioned the defendant’s recreational cocaine use, Judge Sean Morris said: “Lay off it. Go for a pint of Tetley’s or whatever.”

There was no suggestion the defendant was under the influence when he was stopped by police for the driving incident.

The judge said Wetherill’s offence passed the custody threshold, but he recognised the circumstances in his life which had led him to this point.

He was given a community order for two years and disqualified from driving for a year.