A Woonona man caught driving with a "toxic" level of heroin in his system has been sentenced to three months' jail.
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Magistrate Michael Stoddart described Warren Horneman as a "disaster waiting to happen", after he was found sitting in his stationary vehicle facing the wrong way on Mount Ousley Road in January last year.
Court documents reveal police received multiple triple-zero calls about a white Ford Telstar stopped, facing north in the southbound lane of the M1, about 200 metres north of the University Avenue overpass. Horneman was unable to explain how he had gotten there.
Police say he was pale and sweating, appeared "dreamy but irritable", and had difficulty standing up when he got out of the car.
He was arrested and taken to Wollongong Hospital, where blood tests revealed he was high on heroin and codeine. A pharmacologist later said the amount of heroin in his system fell within the "toxic" range.
Horneman, 60, pleaded guilty to drug driving, and driving with a suspended licence in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.
His lawyer, Matt Ward, said Horneman had a long-standing drug issue, and had been using heroin to alleviate back pain.
Magistrate Stoddart criticised Horneman's "terrible" traffic history, noting this was his eighth charge of drink or drug driving.
He described it as a record that was "appalling to say the least".
"You were a danger to yourself, you were a danger to other road users," Magistrate Stoddart said.
Horneman was also disqualified from driving for 18 months and fined $600.
Horneman has lodged an appeal against the sentence, and has been released on conditional bail.