'Poor decision' - Motorist banned from driving after passenger told police he took cannabis the day before
A motorist who took cannabis before getting behind the wheel has been banned from the road.
Mark Anthony Smith, aged 46, was pulled over by police on the A458 in Welshpool at around 11pm on May 18 this year.
Kidderminster Magistrates Court was told that he parked up in The Flash leisure centre car park, where officers asked his female passenger if he had used cannabis.
“She stated he had used it the day before,” said prosecutor Charlotte Morgan. A positive roadside drug swipe was taken and Smith was arrested.
A drugs test was carried out in custody and found Smith had 4.9 micrograms of Delta 9 THC - the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis - per litre of blood. The legal limit, taking into account the possibility of accidental exposure, is 2mcg.
Smith, of Cheltenham Court, Leegomery, Telford, pleaded guilty to driving with a proportion of a controlled drug above the specified limit.
Sandeep Kumar, mitigating, said: “He made the poor decision to engage in recreational cannabis use.
“He says he didn’t feel a sense of impairment, but in hindsight knows the drugs stay in your system for a long time.”
Magistrates banned Smith from driving for 12 months and fined him £80. They also ordered him to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £32 victim surcharge, bringing his total court bill to £197.