When a motorist saw a yellow Peugeot mounting the pavements in Johnston, zigzag across the road and narrowly avoid colliding with a van that was travelling up Dredgeman Hill, she had little option but to call 999.
As she continued following Jacob Arnold through Merlin’s Bridge, she noticed that he was closing his eyes and his head was bobbing up and down.
“He was clearly under the influence of something,” Crown Prosecutor Kelly Rivers told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.
“The motorist had seen the defendant driving from Johnston towards Haverfordwest and she became concerned about his manner of his driving, as he was all over the road. He was swaying from right to left, he was mounting the kerb and he was driving on his brakes.
“As he went down Dredgeman Hill, he crossed the double white line and almost collided with a white van that was travelling up the hill towards him.”
The concerned motorist continued following Arnold as he proceeded to drive into the Tesco car park in Haverfordwest.
“It looked as if he was drunk,” continued Ms Rivers. “His eyes were glazed and he was unsteady on his feet.”
The defendant was eventually arrested by police as he drove through Crundale. Subsequent blood tests confirmed he had been driving with a mixture of drugs in his system, including benzo and diazepam.
Jacob Arnold, 27, of Ashford Park, Crundale, pleaded guilty to driving whilst unfit through drugs.
He was legally represented in court by Mr Tom Lloyd who told magistrates that his client has been working ‘very hard’ to address his substance misuse issue since the offence was committed in September 2022.
After considering the facts of the case, magistrates disqualified Arnold from driving for 36 months. He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £48 surcharge.
