A man who drove home from work whilst more than double the drug-driving limit has been banned from the road and told to “reflect” on his offending.
Branden Stephen was noted to look “very pale” and with “dilated pupils” when police pulled him over on Wellington Road in Aberdeen in the early hours of the morning.
He admitted driving with a 5.2mcg reading of cannabis in his system, the legal limit being 2mcg on July 16, 2020.
Fiscal depute Emma Petersen said police had cause to pull the 25-year-old’s grey Seat car over at 2am.
“The accused was found to be the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle,” she said.
“On being stopped by police the officers noted he was very pale and his pupils were dilated.
“He thereafter voluntarily stated that he was using cannabis.”
Officers clocked drug use
A roadside test proved positive for the Class B drug.
Stephen admitted a charge of driving while unfit through drugs.
Defence agent John McLeod said his client had been working the night shift at his old job and was driving home when he was stopped.
“He was, at that stage, a heavy user of cannabis but he now has that under control,” the solicitor said.
Time to use his bike instead
Mr McLeod added that Stephen now works at the city’s heliport and that his commute will be “somewhat of a hassle” once he loses his licence.
“It just now involves him getting up a wee bit earlier and using his bike instead,” he added.
Sheriff Donald Ferguson told Stephen: “It is a very dangerous thing to do to drive a motor vehicle when you have taken drugs or drink and, in this case, cannabis.
“You need to reflect on this and the impact it could have had on other road users.”
Stephen, of Linksfield Court, Aberdeen, was fined £470 and banned from driving for 15 months.
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