Pot-smoking Ipswich drug-driver may lose job due to conviction
Roadside drug testing equipment - Credit: Archant
An Ipswich drug driver will find out if he still has a job on Christmas Eve after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of cannabis.
Andrew Rowland-Hinton, of Key Street, was banned from the road after admitting the offence when he appeared before Ipswich magistrates.
The 29-year-old had 5.5mcgs of Tetrahydrocannabinol in his blood after a crash on the A14 near Sproughton. The legal drug limit is 2mcgs.
Prosecutor Colette Harper said an accident occurred on the Claydon-bound A14 on October 14.
When a police officer arrived at the scene he found Rowland-Hinton and others.
Due to the position of the vehicles and the dangerous nature of the dual carriageway they drove down to Asda junction at Whitehouse.
The court heard Rowland-Hinton told the officer he had smoked some cannabis the night before the crash.
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A drug swab was taken which proved positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol, a derivative of cannabis.
Rowland-Hinton, representing himself, said he had been told he was not at fault for the accident.
Magistrates were told it there had been an 11-hour gap between the time he smoked the cannabis and the time he got behind the wheel.
The care assistant added: “I would not have driven at all had I known I was under the influence. It is something I deeply, deeply regret. My job is on the line.”
The court heard Rowland-Hinton would have a meeting tomorrow to determine whether he will still have a job.
He was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Magistrates also fined him £270 and ordered him to pay £27 to the victims’ fund, a £150 criminal courts charge and £85 towards prosecution costs.
