First Shropshire 'drug driver' in court under new laws
One of the first people to be arrested for "drug driving" in Shropshire has been banned from the road for three years.
Jason Robert Butter was stopped on the A41 on March 8, just six days after a new law came into force, and found to be driving under the influence of class A drugs, including cocaine.
Mrs Katie Price told Telford magistrates that officers stopped Butter's Audi A4 and noted his speech was slow and his pupils "heavily dilated". A drugs test proved positive for two controlled substances, cocaine and a substance related to it.
Butter, 27, of Maer Lane, Market Drayton, admitted two charges of driving with a controlled substance in his blood. He also admitted a bail offence.
For Butter, Shakeel Ahmed said police had told the defendant he was the first to be charged under the new legislation.
He said that the two charges actually related to one class A drug – cocaine and another substance that was formed from cocaine breaking down in the body.
Butter registered 32 microgrammes of cocaine in one litre of blood, above the legal limit of 10, and 162 microgrammes of the other class A substance, above the legal limit of 50. He tested zero for alcohol. The court was told Butter already owed £3,000 in court fines.
Butter told police that he used cocaine recreationally and admitted the offences immediately, said Mr Ahmed.
Butter was also given 150 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
The grounds worker lost his most recent job following his arrest, but was "looking to get back into gainful employment", said Mr Ahmed.
He added that Butter had not been stopped because of the manner of his driving.
A spokeswoman for probation said Butter's cocaine use was only occasional, however he was "beginning to feel that his cocaine use is problematic".
