Banned after drug driving

A Spalding carpenter has been banned from driving for three years after drug driving.

Oliver Thompson, 26, of Jubilee Close had admitted driving while under the influence of cannabis and possession of cannabis and because of a conviction for driving with excess alcohol within the past 10 years, faced a mandatory three year driving ban.

Prosecuting, Daniel Pietryka said Thompson was stopped while driving his Ford Transit van on the A16 at Spalding at 3pm on December 22 and was seen to throw a bag of cannabis out of the window.

He said he was arrested following a positive drugs wipe and was found to have 8.4 micrograms of cannabis in his system, the legal limit being two.

He said Thompson had a previous excess alcohol conviction in 2015.

Mitigating, Philippa Chatterton said the ban would have a ‘devastating effect on him’ as he was a carpenter travelling across the country for building work.

She said he would lose his job which would impact on his family and his mother, to whom he gave financial support.

She said he had had no idea that cannabis stayed in the system so long as he had taken the drug the previous evening to aid his sleep.

Thompson was banned from driving for three years, fined £120 and ordered to pay £119 in court costs and charges.