A DISGRACED former university student smashed into parked cars after taking cocaine as he returned to visit friends.

Berke Ersoy had been studying at Essex University but was kicked out after racking up criminal convictions - the latest for battery and a public order offence for which he was sentenced to a community order.

But when the 21-year-old came back to see pals in June he crashed his BMW into a parked car in Greenstead Road, Colchester.

Ersoy wrote off his car when he collided with one vehicle which then shunted into a series of others causing a significant amount of damage.

Police were called after one car owner witnessed the crash and dialled 999.

Officers arrived and spoke to Ersoy and noted he smelt of alcohol, but a breathalyser test showed he was under the legal limit.

He had 20 mcgs of alcohol per 100mls of breath. The limit is 35.

However, he tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a derivative of cocaine, and was eight times the limit - set at an extremely low level to account for accidental consumption.

Ersoy, of Wychelm Road, Reading in Berkshire, admitted drug driving when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court.

Caroline Woodley, mitigating, said he had snorted the drugs in the morning of the crash and did not realise he would still be impaired.

She said: “At one stage he was a student at Essex University but as a result of his convictions he was asked to leave.

“He came to stay with a friend over the summer for 12 days and used cocaine socially. He is not an addict in an way.

“It was the morning of the day of the crash when he had taken the drugs and he tested positive 12 hours later.

“He was driving along and it was a momentary lapse of concentration which led to him striking the parked vehicle.

“It then shunted along and hit several more.

“Thankfully, nobody was injured.

“He was surprised the level was so high in his system but it is not like alcohol which wears off over time - it depends on how quickly your body breaks it down.

“But for the accident there were no aggravating features.”

The court was told Ersoy’s BMW was worth just £1,800 and since finding a new job in the sales department of a publishing firm he has been using public transport to get to work.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 18 months.

Ersoy must also pay a £440 fine, £85 costs and a £44 victim surcharge.