A TEENAGER was caught drug-driving with passengers in his vehicle - just hours after passing his test.

Harry McHale was aged just 17 when he came to the attention of police while travelling down Scalegate Road in Carlisle at 10.35pm on December 16.

McHale, now 18, was driving without lights and had three passengers in the vehicle. He was stopped by police.

“He said he had only passed his driving test that day,” prosecutor Pam Ward told the city’s magistrates’ court.

“His eyes were heavy, as though he was struggling to keep them open.”

A sample of blood taken from the teen was sent off for analysis. It showed that the level of cannabis derivative THC was above the legal limit.

McHale, of Heads Nook, near Carlisle, pleaded guilty to a drug-driving charge when he appeared in front of magistrates on Tuesday morning.

Mark Shepherd, defending, said the teen had been fully co-operative with police at the time and spoke of immaturity at the age of 17 being 'perhaps accepted and understandable' as he was among peers at the time.

“This was, of course, a big day for him,” said Mr Shepherd. “What he has done is take a drag on a cannabis joint.”

This resulted in him being 'just over the limit'.

“He completely misjudged the situation as well he might. What he should not have done was have an illegal drug before getting behind the wheel of his vehicle,” said Mr Shepherd.

McHale had been about to sit his GCSEs as the Covid pandemic hit (in 2020) and his “confidence and self-esteem was affected significantly as a result”.

McHale had become 'frustrated, anxious and depressed', starting to take cannabis to alleviate symptoms of insomnia.

But Mr Shepherd said: “He has stopped that. He has been tested by his parents. There have been no positive tests whatsoever.”

McHale had also engaged with professionals and was supported by a character reference provided by a retired long-serving police officer.

His "mistake and misjudgement", said Mr Shepherd, along with the looming mandatory driving ban, “is going to serve as a punishment to him, financially and in terms of his independence.”

Magistrates fined McHale — who worked for his family’s agriculture business — £200 and imposed a 12-month driving ban.

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