A convicted robber whose car was stopped by police because it was going too slowly had taken so much cocaine he was over the legal limit for driving – by more than 50 times.

Matthew Scot, 28, appeared before Carlisle’s magistrates’ court by video link from Durham Prison.

He was convicted in his absence of drug driving on December 30 last year, and admitted uninsured driving, failing to appear in court when required for his trial, and speeding on December 21, doing 36mph in a 30mph zone.

Diane Jackson, prosecuting, told how police noticed the defendant’s Ford Focus as it drove along Wigton Road in the early hours of December 30 when there was barely any other traffic around.

“It was driving very slowly,” said Mrs Jackson.

“When he got out of the vehicle he appeared to be unsteady on his feet, his pupils were were dilated and his speech was slurred.”

A later test revealed that the defendant’s bloodstream had a concentration of benzoylecgonine – a substance that comes from cocaine – which was present at a level of 2,772mgs per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50mgs. Thus Scot was over the limit by 55 times.

Sara Budniak, for Scot, whose home address had been previously given as Hallin Crescent, Morton, said the defendant had previously been given a six-year jail sentence for a robbery offence.

The lawyer said: “He had received a telephone call from the police saying he would be recalled to prison and this gave him a shock. He didn’t want to be recalled so he went to Blackpool to avoid going back to prison. He made admissions in respect of that.”

She said that Scot’s lifestyle was erratic and any accommodation he had secured had now been lost so he may find himself homeless if released from prison.

Passing sentence, District Judge Gerald Chalk told the defendant that he regarded the drug driving offence as very serious. 

He said: “So far as [your reading for] benzoylecgonine, it was over 50 times the limit, so I am sending you to prison for 120 days.”

For the unsinsured driving Scot was given a 12-month conditional discharge. The judge also banned Scot from driving for three years for the drug driving offence, and imposed an £80 victim surcharge.