A man who rammed his car into vehicles stopped at the rail gates in the Newcastle suburb of Wickham claimed he was sleepwalking after taking the drug Stilnox, Newcastle Local Court heard on Monday.
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Liam Charles Johnson gave a blood-alcohol reading of 0.22 after he was arrested in Hannell Street at 9.30pm on May 22 last year.
Police had received calls about a car that had crashed into parked vehicles at Maryville before they were called to the Wickham gates where a BMW sedan had rammed into stationary cars, statements tendered to the court said.
Witnesses saw Mr Johnson slumped forward with both hands on the steering wheel before a witness removed the keys from the ignition.
Mr Johnson, 28, has pleaded not guilty to high-range drink driving, with his barrister Terrence Healey telling magistrate Jennifer Atkinson that his client will be relying on the defence of sane automatism.
Mr Johnson told the court that he had taken Stilnox, for which he had a prescription, before going to bed in preparation of starting a 3am shift as a baker at Coles.
He said he had eaten some Thai food and drunk some wine that evening, but he also told a police officer later that night that he had drunk six Corona beers.
A highway patrol officer asked Mr Johnson at the scene whether he had taken ecstasy because Mr Johnson's eyes were "dilated, they're just huge", a statement said.
Mr Johnson told the court he had no memory of driving, his arrest or being driven home from Newcastle police station with his father.
He said his first memory was when his father told him of the crash the next morning before he went outside and saw his badly damaged car.
He said he knew that sleepwalking was one of the possible side effects of Stilnox and that he had previously suffered memory lapses when taking the drug.
Ms Atkinson adjourned the case to August where Mr Johnson and police will present expert evidence.
