A “very reckless” BMW driver who overtook nine cars at high speed with cocaine in his system could have killed people, a court has heard.

Thomas Hutchinson, 31, crashed into another car injuring the driver while trying to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming car when he was driving along the A483 near Abermule at around 5pm on Wednesday, March 23 this year.

The Newtown man was banned from driving for 18 months and owes almost £1,000 to the court after he pleaded guilty to driving his silver BMW without due care and attention and with five times the limit for cocaine metabolite Benzoylecgonine.

Cynthia McVey, chair of the magistrates’ bench, told Hutchinson: “This was an exceedingly serious event that could have led to lots of injuries and even death. You acted very recklessly on this occasion.”

The prosecution told Welshpool Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, October 11, that there were a number of people who saw what had happened. One witness said he saw the BMW overtaking cars at “high speed” and it was “fortunate a more serious collision didn’t happen”. Another witness saw the BMW overtaking a long line of cars which continued to accelerate despite a car travelling on the opposite side of the road. She later told Hutchinson “what were you playing at? You could have killed us” to which he replied, “I know”.

Hutchinson crashed into the back of a Citroen Picasso car causing a shoulder injury to the driver when he tried to avoid a head-on collision. In a victim impact statement, the driver described the collision as “a shocking piece of driving” with the “potential to take the lives of six people”.

During an interview with police officers, Hutchinson said he was returning home from Welshpool when he saw cars “doing 40mph for no apparent reason”. He added that the BMW was a “powerful which got himself into trouble”. Hutchinson said he was committed to the manoeuvre and had to dash in and clipped into the Citroen Picasso. The court also heard that Hutchinson’s pupils looked like “pin pricks”.

Hutchinson told officers that he lived with a “full blown cokehead” and admitted that he had taken cocaine up to four days before the crash.

Prosecutor Rhian Jackson said Hutchinson was of previous good character and had no convictions except for two cautions in relation to possession of drugs. He was also driving with 13 points on his licence due to “exceptional hardship”.

Magistrates banned Thomas Hutchinson, 31, of Hendidley Way, Newtown from driving for 18 months and ordered him to pay a £400 fine for each offence, £80 in victim surcharges and £85 court costs making that a total of £965 owed to the court.