A mainlander visiting the Isle of Wight from Southampton has been handed a year-long driving ban after being caught behind the wheel with nearly 3x the legal cocaine limit in his blood.
James Coffen, 40, of Croydon Close, Southampton, pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit, namely Benzoylecgonine – the breakdown product of the illegal Class A drug, cocaine.
Serena Edwards for the Crown Prosecution Service informed the court that it was just before 17:00 on 22nd November last year when police officers stopped the vehicle Coffen was travelling in as being connected to a separate incident.
Going on, Magistrates heard that the police officers present arrested 3 individuals at the scene on Marlborough Road.
It was here that they noticed Coffen acting strangely and looking as though he might be under the influence.
Once in custody at Newport Police Station, a blood drugs test was carried out where Coffen was found to be nearly 3 times over the legal limit, containing 190 microgrammes of Benzoylecgonine (cocaine) per litre of blood when the legal limit is just 50 microgrammes.
Michael McGoldrick, defending, told the court how his client does not usually take cocaine but was at a party and decided to do some. The magistrates heard Coffen’s mitigation that although he does accept he had taken cocaine, he didn’t think he had taken too much to drive.
Magistrates concluded the hearing banning Coffen from driving for 12-months as well as ordering him to pay a total of £253 to the court, including a £120 fine, £85 in compensation fee’s and a £4848 surcharge.
