Ban for teenage drug driver

Morgan Kelly (19), of North Place, East Dene, tested positive for three drugs after driving a Vauxhall Corsa on Browning Road, Herringthorpe.

Mrs Alison Head, prosecuting, said a police officer driving an unmarked vehicle had seen Kelly overtake him and he had been forced to swerve to avoid Kelly’s car.

He pulled Kelly over and could smell cannabis when he approached the car.

Kelly tested positive for THC, which is found in cannabis, cocaine, and BZE, a cocaine breakdown product.

He admitted to police that he had been driving and had picked up two friends after work so they could smoke cannabis together.

Kelly said he had passed his driving test in December 2016.

He told police he smoked cannabis regularly and he knew the drugs test would be positive.

Kelly admitted taking cocaine but said he had taken this two days before he was caught.

He admitted at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court last Tuesday (10) to three charges of driving with a proportion of a controlled drug above the specified limit on October 30.

Mr Andrew Jepson, mitigating, said it was a shame Kelly had been convicted because he was a young man with no previous convictions or cautions.

He said Kelly had been working as a groundworker for four years and was set to lose his job because of his driving ban.

“It just goes to show that someone can use something recreationally on a Saturday and it’s still in his system on a Monday,” said Mr Jepson.

Sentencing Kelly, District Judge for Sheffield, Ms Naomi Redhouse, said: “I’m always sorry to see somebody like you here.

“You’re someone who works hard and very much enjoys having a car.

“We are all too comfortable when we are in a car and we forget it’s a big lump of steel and is a weapon if used wrongly.”

Ms Redhouse banned Kelly from the road for 15 months, fined him £200 and ordered him to pay £115 costs.