Frome man drove car after taking cocaine and cannabis
He failed a drugs swipe test
Magistrates reporter
The Frome man failed a drugs swipe test after police found found him at the wheel of a car (Image: Getty)
A Frome man who was found at the wheel of his car after taking cocaine and smoking cannabis has been banned from driving for two years and ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work.
Police were on duty in the town in the early hours of the morning when they pulled over Ben Gary Heaphy and noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from inside his vehicle.
They found some green vegetable matter in the central console and after failing a drugs test at the roadside he was arrested, Somerset Magistrates were told.
Heaphy, 32, of Hillside Drive, appeared in the dock at Yeovil where he pleaded guilty to three counts of drug driving at Christchurch Street West in Frome on December 21 last year.
Emma Lenanton, prosecuting, said that the police were on duty at 2.30am when they saw the defendant's BMW vehicle and stopped it on Christchurch Street West.
"They spoke to Heaphy and could smell a strong smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle so told him he was going to be searched and drug tested at the roadside," she said.
"In the centre console was a small quantity of cannabis (0.6g) and he then failed a drugs swipe test and showed positive for cocaine and cannabis so was arrested."
He was taken to the police station where blood samples were taken and he was shown to be over the limit for three different types of drug.
He had a reading of 2.7mcg of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol when the limit is 2mcg; 65mcg of cocaine when the limit is 10 and 800mcg of Benzoylecgonine when the limit is 50.
Defending solicitor Sam Morton said that Heaphy was driving from one side of Frome to the other to get to his partner's house and had taken some cocaine the night before.
"He slept during the day and said he felt fine to drive and had smoked cannabis two hours before driving but did not feel in any way impaired," he said.
"There was no suggestion of the car weaving across the road and he is genuinely sorry and didn't realise the drugs would stay in his system for that long."
The magistrates imposed a two year driving disqualification and sentenced him to a 12 month community order with a requirement to carry out 180 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
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