DRIVERS on the M5 near Worcester were shocked to see a man staggering around on the hard shoulder and lying down on the carriageway, a court has heard.

Andrew Mead, who was found to be three times over the drink-drive limit, wandered on and off the motorway between Junctions 5 and 6 and threw something at the windscreen of a lorry.

"Horns were blaring as motorists saw him," Paul Whitfield, prosecuting, told Worcester Crown Court. "He was wandering off the hard shoulder and from time to time he would lie down on the carriageway."

Shortly before, he had been visiting his family and had taken his father's £18,000 Audi A6 from their house in Wychbold after spending the night there drinking whisky, Mr Whitfield said.

On the morning of March 28 this year, he drove south on the M5 to go back to the house he had been sharing with his partner in Wyld's Lane, Worcester. He was in a crash with another car and carried on driving, weaving across the motorway, before pulling onto the hard shoulder further on and leaving the car. He was near a CCTV camera on a bridge and was seen to threw something at an Argos lorry, shattering the windscreen and forcing the driver to pull over.

Police were called and when they searched the car, they found a black holdall containing 773 grams of cannabis. Mead was breath tested and found to be three times over the limit.

The 29-year-old, now of Stoke Lane, Wychbold, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicle taking, obstructing the highway, damaging a vehicle and possession of cannabis. Mr Whitfield said police accepted Mead's explanation that he had found the bag with the drugs behind a hedge near Wyld's Lane while he was searching for a pet animal.

Judge Patrick Thomas said it was a "serious set of offences" but he believed it was a one-off and wanted to avoid sending Mead to prison. He asked Mead's father, retired engineer John Mead, to tell the court about his son and then to discuss a suitable plan for the future with defending counsel Paul Stanley.

Mr Mead said his son was intelligent but had not made as much of his potential as his three brothers, who had all been to university. He said his family would fully support him.

Mr Stanley later told the court Mead had been offered a job two days a week in a timber firm connected to the family, was considering further education courses and would continue to attend Pathways over alcohol and drugs misuse.

The judge deferred sentence until April 30 next year when he will be sitting at Birmingham Crown Court to see if the plan of action has worked.

He said he would take into account all that has happened in the meantime and would ask for another probation report.

Mead also admitted summary offences of drink-driving, driving while disqualified and without insurance and was banned from the road.