A drug-driver who was handed a three-year ban told magistrates he had had stopped smoking cannabis a few weeks before being caught.

William Tyson, 46 was driving a Vauxhall Zafira on Purser Road in Workington, when police did a stop check at 4pm on February 22, Workington Magistrates’ Court heard.

Pam Ward, prosecuting, said it had showed Tyson was driving with no insurance.

The defendant co-operated with a roadside drugs wipe and he was then arrested and taken in to custody.

A drugs test showed he had 2.3mcg of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2mcg.

The court heard that Tyson had been convicted of drug-driving in July 2018.

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Tyson, who was unrepresented, told magistrates: “What it is, I used to smoke cannabis, but I stopped smoking a few weeks previous. This is what was left in my system.

“I stopped smoking because I have got settled down. I have got a job. I’m due to be made supervisor. If I get banned, there’s a chance I will lose my job.

“There was no issue with my driving. It was just the fact I had no insurance.”

Tyson, of Purser Road, Workington, pleaded guilty to driving a vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.

Passing sentence, lead magistrate, Lynne Gauntlett, said: “We have no option other than to ban you from driving. Our hands are tied. You must be disqualified from driving for three years.”

Tyson was also fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

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