A highways safety worker crashed his van into a parked car at night after taking strong medication for depression, a court heard.

Darren Ryder’s “shocking” driving on the M2 motorway and the A249 was captured on a camera he had installed in the van for his own protection.

After being shown film of the 43-year-old father driving close to other vehicles and wandering over the rumble strip, a judge told him: “Your ability to comprehend what was going on around you in fast moving traffic was limited in the extreme.”

Ryder was on his way to work in traffic management on March 11 last year when he went onto the M2 and drove erratically,Maidstone Crown Court was told.

The film ended with him swerving around the Stockbury roundabout near Sittingbourne and crashing into the back of a VW Polo parked in a layby as he headed towards Maidstone.

He told police he had not had much sleep during the day and was taking new tablets for depression. He also took some sleeping medicine.

Ryder agreed that having seen the film from the dashcam he should not have been driving.

The car, which was not occupied at the time, was written off at a cost of £2,000.

Tom Stern, defending, said Ryder had “no meaningful recollection” of his driving that night.

“The background is mental illness,” he said. “He has been neglectful in what he has been taking.”

Ryder, who trained for the Royal Marines and whose family had a military background, was employed to make the highway safe for workers.

The father-of-three lost his licence for about 10 months because of his medical condition and lost his job because he could not drive. He was now working in a factory on lower wages.

“He appears to have turned a corner,” said Mr Stern. “He is no longer on medication for depression.”

Ryder, of Rolvenden, Wainscott, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for two years after admitting dangerous driving.

“The driving I have seen is shocking. You showed scant regard for other road users" - Judge Philip Statman

He will have to complete 140 hours unpaid work and was banned from driving for a year. He will have to take an extended test before his licence will be returned.

Judge Philip Statman said it was luck that the car owner was not in it at the time.

“The driving I have seen is shocking,” he said. “You showed scant regard for other road users.

“You knew the last thing you should do is either self-medicate by using other drugs or mixing drugs in a greater proportion than those you were prescribed to do.

“You knew the consequences of getting behind the wheel. You knew how you were feeling at the time.

“To take pills and drive you put yourself in grave danger, but you put others in grave danger.”

But he added: “I am just persuaded I can pass a suspended sentence.”