A 65-year-old motorist who drove with over 14 times the legal amount of cocaine metabolite BZE in his system has been brought before magistrates for sentence.

John Docker of Kilgetty Lane, Stepaside was stopped by police on the evening of May 22 in order for them to carry out a routine test on the Vauxhall Zafira that he was driving along the A477 at Honeyborough.

A roadside drugs wipe proved positive and Docker was conveyed to the police custody suite where further blood tests were carried out.

These confirmed that there were exceptionally high levels of drugs in his system.

The amount of Benzoylecgonine (BZE) totalled 733mcg, which was over 14 times the legal limit of 50. He was also found to have 22mcg of cocaine (legal limit 2) and 3.2mcg of Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol (legal limit 2).

Docker pleaded guilty to three charges of driving over the legal drink-drive limit.

He was represented in court by Mr David Williams who explained that the previous evening his client had stayed with a friend where he had had consumed a quantity of drugs.

“He delayed driving until well into the following evening but unbeknown to him, the drugs were still discovered in his system,” said Mr Docker.

Mr Williams went on to say that his client has been making positive efforts to curtail his cocaine habit.

“The drugs and alcohol team has been helping him to reduce his use of cocaine and he has regular blood tests which are negative," said the solicitor.

"This means that my client is responding pro-actively and positively.”

After considering the evidence, Docker was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £34 surcharge. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months.

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