A motorist who suffered two close family bereavements in close succession found himself in front of magistrates this week after driving his Audi A6 Quattro after taking a cocktail of cannabis and cocaine.
Police stopped Steven Moore as he drove through Felindre Farchog, near Newport, on the afternoon of December 15.
He was asked to carry out a roadside drugs wipe which proved positive and he was subsequently taken into a police custody suite to provide further blood samples.
These confirmed that he had 118 mcg of Benzoylecgonine in his blood, which is a derivative of cocaine. The specified limit is 50.
He also had Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system, totaling 3.7mcg. The legal limit is 2.
Moor, 44, of Ridgeway, Cardigan pleaded guilty to both charges when he appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates earlier this week.
He was legally represented in court by Mr Michael Kelleher.
“He was going through a very stressful time in his life when this happened,” he said.
“He’d lost two very close family members in quick succession and he resorted to drugs which he had taken two days before he was stopped. But he wasn’t affected at all by them.”
Mr Kelleher added that his client has a child who attends Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool on a regular basis.
“My client’s behaviour that day is undoubtedly going to cause him and his family great trouble in moving forward,” added Mr Kelleher.
After considering a pre-sentence report prepared by the probation service, magistrates banned Moore from driving for a total of 20 months as a result of the presence of two drugs in his system at the time of the offence.
He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.
