A 60-year-old drug driver, who twice got behind the wheel of her car with cocaine in her system, left her friend with severe spinal injuries when she smashed into a lorry.

Lynn Tranter ploughed her Ford Focus into a car transporter in Heath Road, Clacton, in July last year.

Her passenger suffered extensive injuries including a broken wrist and a fractured spine.

A police officer who was heading into work witnessed the smash.

In a statement read out at Colchester Magistrates’ Court yesterday, he said: “I noted the Ford Focus travelling in the opposite direction and clearly remember saying ‘That’s going a bit quick’.”

The officer said the car did not brake before hitting the lorry. He said he also saw Tranter was wearing flip flops while driving.

When Tranter and her friend were taken to Colchester Hospital, a blood test revealed the cocaine in her system.

Tranter was already under investigation for drug driving after an incident on May 16.

The court heard Tranter has a previous conviction for supplying cocaine.

The hospital test revealed Tranter had 14mg of the drug per litre of blood, over the specified limit.

Tranter admitted driving without due care and attention and drug driving.

Lucy Osborne, mitigating, said Tranter’s life had spiralled out of control after the death of her former partner.

She said Tranter was evicted from her council home of 47 years after a friend’s son moved in and began to cause trouble.

Finding herself homeless, Tranter carried on associating with the wrong crowds, the court heard.

Ms Osborne said: “She gravitated towards individuals who were not beneficial to her.

“She started to spiral, mixing with people she wouldn’t previously have had any dealings with at all.

“Understandably she fell into a cycle of depression and she was offered cocaine as a means of relieving her depression.”

Tranter, who is staying with a friend in a chalet in Clacton, was sentenced to 14 weeks in prison, suspended for a year.

She was disqualified from driving for 46 months, must complete a 30 day rehabilitation activity requirement and pay £246 in fines and costs.