Telford dad caught drug driving after dropping daughter off at school where she worked
A motorist from Telford was caught driving under the influence of cannabis after dropping his daughter off at the school she works at.
Dean Benton, aged 54, drove a Vauxhall Corsa on Queen Street, Madeley, on November 26 last year.
Telford Magistrates Court was told that police pulled Benton over at around 8.15am due to his car showing up as uninsured.
An officer suspected he was under the influence of drugs, so got Benton to take a roadside test which proved positive.
Benton was arrested and taken into custody, where a sample of his blood was taken and sent off to a laboratory.
It showed he had 2.9 micrograms of Delta 9 THC - the main psychoactive part of cannabis - in his system. The legal limit, taking into account the possibility of accidental exposure, is 2mcg.
Benton, of Charlecote Park, Overdale, Telford, pleaded guilty to driving with a proportion of a controlled drug above the specified limit. The court was told he should be treated “as a man of good character”.
Representing himself in court, Benton told Magistrates: “It was stupid. I let myself down.”
Asked why he had stopped at a school, he said: “My daughter works there, I dropped her off.”
Magistrates disqualified Benton from driving for 12 months and fined him £120.
He was also ordered to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £48 victim surcharge, leaving him with a total court bill of £253, which he will pay off at the rate of £40 per month.
