Motorist caught with £300 of cannabis failed to complete drug-drive test

A motorist who was caught with £300 of cannabis and failed to give a drug-drive blood sample has been banned from driving for 18 months.
Chesterfield magistrates' court.Chesterfield magistrates' court.
Chesterfield magistrates' court.

Digby Cleaver, 61, was found by police in his car on Morven Avenue, Bolsover, after officers had been called out to a suspected collision, according to a Chesterfield magistrates’ court hearing.

Becky Allsop, prosecuting, told the hearing on August 2: “The circumstances were just after 11pm, on February 12, when police received a report of a vehicle driving in Bolsover and that it may have collided with a lamppost.”

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Police found Cleaver in a car, according to Mrs Allsop, and he gave a negative roadside breath test and officers became concerned and believed drugs may have been responsible. Mrs Allsop added police recovered 72.9grammes of cannabis resin with a street value of £300.

Cleaver registered below the legal limit during an intoxilyser procedure, according to Mrs Allsop, but was described as “pushing back on the tube” which suffered £10 of damage. The defendant subsequently refused to give blood as part of a drug test. Cleaver claimed his steering and brakes had locked before he collided with a wall and he admitted he had been smoking cannabis. The defendant, of Church Lane, Blo Norton, Norfolk, pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis, failing to provide a specimen and to causing criminal damage to the intoxilyser.

Bertie Mather, defending, said Cleaver, who has apologised no longer takes drugs and is bi-polar. District Judge Andrew Davison sentenced Cleaver to a 12 month community order with 120 hours’ unpaid work. He must pay £10 compensation, £85 costs and an £85 victim surcharge.