A hit and run driver who left two pensioners with spinal injuries in the wreckage of their car has been banned for cannabis driving while on bail.

Craig Steward was jailed last month for two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after he had been drinking, and perverting the course of justice.

For nearly two years following his arrest he had been able to drive because he had denied the offences.

Today, The Press can reveal that while awaiting trial for his actions on the A63 Selby by-pass, he was caught drug driving.

York Magistrates Court heard that police stopped him on the A64 at Bilbrough and gave him a drug test.

That revealed he had taken cannabis before getting behind the wheel.

Last month, York Crown Court heard how he had been driving his works van on March 24, 2019 when he had crashed into the elderly couple's car, forcing it off the road and into a collision with a sign post.

He had then driven off at speed and tried to avoid responsibility for the crash by claiming his van had been stolen before the collision.

Steward's solicitor advocate Neal Kutte told York Crown Court last month Steward had been drinking before he crashed into the pensioners' car.

This month Steward appeared before York Magistrates Court via a video link from the prison where he is currently serving a 34-month prison sentence.

The court heard following his arrest on the A64 he gave a blood sample that revealed he had cannabis in his body.

He was fined £120, ordered to pay a £34 statutory surcharge and banned from driving for 20 months. .

Steward, 47, of Southfield Road, Thorne, Doncaster, pleaded guilty to drug driving and driving without a licence.

Last month, the Recorder of York, Judge Sean Morris, told Steward: "You are a gutless, dishonest man.

"You drove a couple of pensioners off the road.

“You didn’t stop to see if they were all right. It was all putting Craig Steward first and foremost."

Steward was charged with the 2019 offences in 2019 and appeared in court where he denied them. His case was adjourned for trial and he was given bail.

He was continuing to drive and on January 11, 2020,, he was stopped on the A64 at Bilbrough.

He had previously been convicted of drink driving in July 2010.

Last month, on the day he was due to stand trial on two charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and perverting the course of justice, he changed his plea to guilty on all three charges.

In addition to the 34-month prison sentence, he was banned from driving for six years and five months.

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