An Amesbury man whose driving licence was revoked in 2008 was caught drug driving with two passengers, a court heard.
Delroy Forbes, 54, failed a drug swipe when he was pulled over driving a Ford Fiesta on Weyhill Road in Andover on the afternoon of 12 March this year.
Prosecutor Pauline Lambert said the defendant, of Coltsfoot Close, was driving without a licence and without insurance.
She said his criminal record includes taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, driving without a licence and without insurance in 2019 – for which he was handed a community order.
When the unemployed painter and decorator was stopped by officers in March, he was found to have two passengers in the vehicle.
In custody, he provided blood samples which later returned results showing he was significantly over the drug-drive limit.
The reading for cocaine was not less than 19ug/l – the legal limit is 10ug/l.
But most worryingly, the reading for benzoylecgonine – a cocaine byproduct – was 138ug/l, where the legal limit is 50ug/l.
Solicitor Clare Gooding said her client bought the car for the mother of his son who lives in Bournemouth to make child contact easier.
He was due to give her the vehicle, but the meantime, a friend asked him for a lift and his mistakenly agreed to do so, she told the court.
Ms Gooding said there was no indication of bad driving, Forbes was unaware drugs remained in his system at the time and does not have any drug issues.
Admitting his crimes at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (16 December), the presiding bench fined him £180 and imposed a 12-month driving disqualification.
