Shocking dashcam footage has shown the moment a drug-driver crashed into an off-duty police detective sending her car towards oncoming traffic.

Ela Aves was handed 200 hours of unpaid work and banned from the road after causing the crash near Bury St Edmunds last October.

In dashcam footage, a Toyota Hilux, driven by Aves, can be seen colliding with the back of the Suffolk police detective's Mazda as it waited to turn right into Hepworth Road from the A143 at Stanton.

Dashcam-Drug-driver-ploughs-into-police-detective-s-car-near

The crash forced the detective's vehicle across the carriageway and into the path of an oncoming car.

All three cars incurred significant damage and the female driver of the Mazda was airlifted to hospital.

The detective said she was forced to take three weeks off work and remained on restricted duties as a result of the collision.

Aves, aged 24, appeared at Suffolk Magistrates' Court for sentencing on Friday after admitting careless driving and drug-driving at an earlier hearing on May 14.

At the time of the crash on October 18 Aves was found with 139 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine per litre of blood – the legal limit being 50mcg.

She has been labelled "thoughtless and selfish" by the off-duty police detective whose car she ploughed into.

Aves, of Church Road, in Wilby, Norfolk, was handed a 12-month community order, with 200 hours of unpaid work, and banned from driving for 27 months.