Power pole smash costs motorist $5000

A man who drove his car into a ditch, striking a power pole, was ordered to pay $5000 in Masterton District Court.

Raymond Manning, 30, pleaded guilty yesterday to one charge of careless driving and one charge of possession of cannabis on Tuesday.

Police prosecutor Garry Wilson said Manning was driving down Lake Ferry Rd, about 11km south of Martinborough, when he ended up in a shallow ditch before hitting a power pole, causing an outage to several homes.

Mr Wilson said the weather conditions were poor when the incident occurred in September.

Police also found 28g of cannabis in a snaplock bag in the vehicle.

Mr Wilson said unemployed Manning took off after the crash and can't remember anything.

Manning suffered minor injuries.

Lawyer Louise Elder said the cannabis was for personal use and "there's no suggestion it was for anything else".

Judge Tom Broadmore convicted and fined Manning of $250 for careless driving, $150 for possession of cannabis and $132.89 in court costs. He was also ordered to pay more than $5000 to the power company.