A motorist caught drug-driving twice in six weeks has been banned from the road for two years.

Nelson Dias, of Chevallier Street, Ipswich, pleaded guilty at the town’s magistrates’ court to driving with cocaine in his system on May 2 and June 14.

The 27-year-old also admitted failing to attend court on August 1, and failing to attend a drug assessment appointment on May 9.

Prosecutor Wayne Ablett said a police constable saw Dias’s Volvo in London Road, Ipswich, at 1.17am on May 5.

At the time it had a defective rear sidelight and appeared to have an expired MoT certificate as well as not being insured.

Dias was stopped in Allenby Road and given a roadside breath test which indicated he had 38 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcgs.

A subsequent drug swab showed he had seven-and-a-half times the legal limit for a metabolite of cocaine, and nearly five times the legal limit for cocaine, his system.

He was below the legal alcohol limit for driving when he blew into an intoximeter at Martlesham police investigation centre.

As a result Dias was supposed to turn up for a drug assessment appointment a week later, but failed to make the appointed time and arrived 30 minutes late.

Mr Ablett said the June 14 offence occurred when officers saw the Volvo in Anglesea Road, Ipswich. When they checked it appeared not to be insured.

Dias was on police bail for the May 2 offence at the time.

On this occasion a blood sample showed he was twice the legal limit for cocaine and nearly eight times the legal limit for a metabolite of the drug.

The court was told Dias had no previous convictions before May 2.

Dias, representing himself, told the court he had been going through a bad patch in his life at the time of the driving offences, but had now found a full-time job and was trying to settle down.

In addition to giving Dias a two-year driving ban, District Judge Alexander Jacobs fined the factory worker a total of £550 and ordered him to pay £85 costs as well as £30 to the victims’ fund.