A dad admitted a drug-driving charge after pain relief patches for his bad back left him slumped over the steering wheel.
Alex Reid misjudged how and when to put the fentanyl patches on his body to ensure a constant supply of pain relief.
He was left so out of it by absorbing the painkiller he couldn’t drive his car.
Reid, 49, admitted a drug-driving charge in court but was spared a ban after the sheriff heard about his pain relief mix-up.
Paisley Sheriff Court was told Reid’s car horn was sounding at 11.50pm on the town’s Dundonald Road on November 5, 2019, and that he was “slumped across the steering wheel”.
Police arrived to find the engine running. They roused Reid and noticed his speech was slurred and he was disorientated.
Reid was breath-tested but had not drunk any alcohol. However, after being checked by a doctor, he was charged with being unfit to drive through drugs. Reid pled guilty to both charges.
Defence lawyer Gemma Elder said: “This was not a deliberate act, it was a mis-understanding of how he should use his medication.”
She asked Sheriff Gillian Craig to spare Reid, of Paisley, a road ban, saying he relied on his car to get to appointments for his health problems and ferrying his four children around.
Sheriff Craig said she was satisfied the drugs were not illicit and fined Reid £900 and added 10 points to his driving licence.
Reid was also ordered to carry out 135 hours’ unpaid work after a knife was found in his car which the court heard was used for camping trips and he had forgotten was there.
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