Drug-driver gets road ban
A drug user who was caught behind the wheel of a large 4x4 vehicle while at threeand-a-half times the specified cannabis limit has been banned from the roads for 18 months.
Stacey Jones, of Maple Grove, Whitburn, had seven microgrammes of the drug in her blood when she drove on the A1018 in Sunderland – three-and-a-half times more than the specified limit of two.
Sunderland magistrates heard the 33-year-old has never been in trouble with the law before police stopped her Toyota Landcruiser on December 12, last year.
Prosecutor Laura Croft said: “The vehicle was stopped because it had no valid MoT. The matter had nothing to do with the manner of her driving.”
The court heard Jones was told to do a drug test, which she failed, leading to her arrest.
Jones pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with the level of cannabis above the specified limit.
Chris Wilson, defending, said: “She is a long-time user of cannabis. She has done so for medical purposes for a number of years. She was stopped by police. The MoT was an oversight.”
District Judge Roger Elsey said: “Bearing in mind that possession of cannabis is an offence that can be punished by imprisonment and driving with an excess amount of drug in your system, that is an offence that is punishable by imprisonment, you will not be treated leniently.
“Until today, you were a lady of good character. You have now lost that good character.”
Jones was fined £400, with a £40 surcharge and £85 costs. She was disqualified from driving for 18 months.