Driver stopped for faulty light told police he’d taken drug

A MAN marked the easing of the first national coronavirus lockdown by going for a drive with his friends – and ended up getting arrested for drug-driving.

Kacsper Rutkiewicz smoked the class B drug cannabis before meeting up with three pals and going for a drive, a court heard.

Police officers originally stopped him to tell him his brake light was broken.

But he immediately volunteered he had been smoking the drug and had a small amount in his possession.

The 20-year old, of Staveley Court, Loughborough, appeared at Leicester Magistrates’ Court to admit a single charge of drug-driving in the town last year.

Prosecutor Kwok Wan said the patrol officers stopped Rutkiewicz’s car in Sullivan Way at 8pm on May 16, after they noticed his brake light was not working.

Mr Wan said: “The officers spoke to him and he offered that he had been smoking cannabis and was in possession of cannabis.”

He tested positive at the roadside for the class B drug and was taken into custody where a blood sample was taken.

“His reading was 6.6mg of cannabis per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2mg.

Mr Wan said there were three young men in the vehicle with the defendant, which aggravated his offence, but there was no evidence his driving had been noticeably impaired by the drug.

Rutkiewicz decided to appear without a solicitor and was given an opportunity to explain his actions.

He said: “To be honest, we had just come out of lockdown and I had not seen my friends for quite a long time.

“It was a silly mistake.” Asked when he had smoked the drug, he said it was on the day of the offence.

Banning him from driving for a year, magistrate Suzanne Felsteadsaid: “Driving with drugs is never a good idea and unfortunately it has come back to bite you quite considerably.”

Rutkiewicz was also fined £204 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £34 and prosecution costs of £85.