Drug driver is caught because he forgot to put his car lights on

A man described as a “weekend cocaine user” got behind the wheel while nearly eight times over the limit.

Jon MacLeod, 20, was stopped by police in Kemnay because he had forgotten to put his lights on, but officers then smelled cannabis in the car and took him in for preliminary blood tests.

When police tested him, MacLeod was found to have both cocaine and a cocaine metabolite, a byproduct of the body breaking down a drug into a different substance, in his system.

The amount of cocaine metabolite in his blood showed he was nearly eight times the limit for driving.

He was also found to be in possession of a small amount of cannabis and cocaine.

MacLeod, a building apprentice, pled guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to four charges of driving with high levels of cocaine and cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine in his bloodstream.

He also admitted two charges of being in possession of cannabis and cocaine.

Fiscal depute Kiril Bonavino told the court MacLeod was stopped on Paradise Road in Kemnay in the early hours of June 20 last year after police noticed his vehicle lights were not on.

“The accused was found to be the driver. However, minutes later, police officers noticed a strong smell of cannabis, and he was cautioned,” he said.

“At this time, the officers recovered a cannabis grinder containing green herbal substance and a number of self-seal bags containing white residue.”

Back at Kittybrewster Police Station, MacLeod gave a blood sample that showed he had 14 microgrammes of cocaine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 10mg per litre.

His blood was also found to contain 383 microgrammes of the cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50mg per litre.

Defence agent Neil McRobert told the court that MacLeod, who was 19 at the time of the offence, was an “occasional weekend user” of cocaine.

He said: “He accepts that he had taken cocaine the previous night, he acknowledges that and tells me that at the time he was an occasional user at weekends.

“He knows that he will be disqualified.”

Sheriff Peter GrantHutchison described the offence as “a substantial amount of drugs to have in your system while driving”.

However, he deferred sentence on MacLeod, of Mitchell Gardens, Kinellar, for a criminal justice social work report to be carried out.

Sheriff GrantHutchison also banned MacLeod from driving until his sentencing.

Jon MacLeod was nearly eight times the legal limit.