A MOTORIST from Wigton who was charged with drug driving was caught after police saw him reach 97mph on the motorway.

Police officers who were conducting motorway speed checks stopped Tyler Richardson, 26, on March 13 after seeing him breaking the speed limit in his BMW 3-series car on the southbound M6 at Tebay.

The defendant, of Union Street, Wigton, was marginally over the limit for the active ingredient of cannabis. He admitted the offence.

Peter Kelly, prosecuting at Carlisle’s Rickergate court, said police clocked the defendant’s car reaching a speed of 97mph as he drove southwards and as a result of this he was stopped and spoken to.

The officers asked to provide a blood specimen and this confirmed that he was marginally over the limit for the active ingredient of cannabis.

Lauren Heasley, defending, said the defendant had mistakenly believed that the drug would be out of his system, having used it 12 hours earlier with a friend, but he did not wish to make excuses.

He accepted that he had committed a criminal offence.

In the same job since he left school, Richardson now faced having to arrange without driving to travel to his full-time work in Carlisle for a 6am start.

He also regularly showed his dogs around the country and if this was to continue, said the lawyer, he would have to rely on other people for transport. 

Miss Heasley said there was no concern expressed about the manner of his driving and the defendant was a man of previous good character. The lawyer noted also that the defendant’s reading for the cannabis ingredient had been only just over the limit.

Magistrates imposed a £500 fine, with £85 costs and a £50 victim surcharge. The gave the defendant a 12-month ban – the minimum available in law for a drug driving offence.

It is thought that the defendant was not prosecuted for speeding, the court heard.

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