Police told a drug-driver it was not his lucky day after stopping him because of the car he had just bought.
Dominic Marsden, 29, purchased the Volkswagen Golf two weeks before he was caught behind the wheel with cannabis in his system on the A40 in Monmouth.
An officer told him he had only been stopped because there was a police marker on the car related to the previous owner. The marker is a red flag indicating a vehicle could be of interest to a police investigation.
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Marsden, of Charlesfield Road in Rugby, appeared at Newport Magistrates' Court last Friday and admitted driving with 7mcg of THC per litre of blood. The legal limit — to allow for naturally occurring chemicals — is 2mcg.
Prosecutor David Cooke said police had not seen any poor driving from Marsden before stopping him at 9.20pm on August 26 last year.
PC Davies spoke to the defendant and could smell cannabis in the car. Marsden then failed the blood test. It was the second time he had been caught driving while impaired.
Rod Young, mitigating, said: "He had bought the car two weeks before. The officer told him, 'It's not your lucky day — the only reason we're stopping you is we thought the person it was previously registered to was still driving it.'"
"Had there not been a marker he would never have been stopped but that's water under the bridge. There are no aggravating features apart from the previous offence and the fact he should have known better."
Presiding Justice Barbara Williams banned Marsden from driving for three years. He must pay a £120 fine, £85 in prosecution costs and a £34 victim services surcharge.
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