A Nottinghamshire driver swallowed an unlit joint when police pulled him over for running red lights.
Richard Burrows, 37, of Common Lane, Hucknall, appeared at Mansfield Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, 15th October 2024.
He admitted driving when the concentration of a specified controlled drug, namely the cannabis metabolite THC, exceeded the specified limit, namely 2 microgrammes per litre of blood.
This is an offence under section 5(A) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction. The offence also attracts an obligatory disqualification.
Magistrates' heard that Burrows overtook a police vehicle and jumped a red light at the junction of Annesley Road and Derby Road in Kirkby. Quite appropriately the incident took place on April Fools' Day.
The manner of his driving attracted the attention of the officers, who required his vehicle to stop. Approaching the vehicle the officers noticed him putting something, now admitted to be a cannabis joint, into his mouth and swallowing it.
Burrows told the officers he was in a hurrying to get his girlfriend home as she needed to use the toilet. He said he had slowed at the junction and checked it was safe to proceed before disregarding the red lights.
Burrows provided a specimen containing 14 microgrammes of THC in 1 litre of blood - seven times the specified limit mentioned earlier.
Lucy Whittaker, mitigating, said: "He had not smoked any cannabis that day - the reason for his high reading is he had an old joint in his car from the evening before.
"At the time he occasionally smoked at night to relax before bed. He panicked, scrunched (the joint) up into his hand, and put it into his mouth and swallowed it.
"We will now never know what his actual reading was because he swallowed a whole joint. He didn't feel great after doing that."
Magistrates fined Burrows £180 and ordered him to pay £48 surcharge and £95 towards prosecution costs.
He was also disqualified from driving for 3 years.
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