A Penrith man caught with illegal substances in his car less than three months after being arrested for drug-driving has been sentenced by a judge.
When stopped by police on the second occasion, on November 29 last year, Michael John Torrance was found to have small quantities of heroin, magic mushrooms and cannabis in his possession.
“He said the drugs were for his own personal use,” prosecutor Andy Travis had told magistrates when 38-year-old Torrance, of King Street, was first brought to court.
“He was going to Hallin Fell to have a psychedelic experience before going to sleep in his car.”
Just weeks earlier, on September 4, Torrance had been stopped by suspicious police officers after his Hyundai Getz was spotted being driven very slowly on Sandgate in Penrith.
He appeared under the influence and there was a smell of cannabis. A quantity of the drug was found in his pocket. The proportion of the main psychoactive element of cannabis, THC, in his bloodstream was found to be over the legal limit.
Torrance admitted drug-driving, illegal possession of the other illegal substances recovered and also failing to provide a blood specimen for analysis after the second stoppage.
He was described as being disappointed by his crimes, which were committed in breach of a suspended prison sentence he was given by a judge in January, 2021. This was for burglary in a remote area near Penrith.
Torrance was sentenced for his latest crimes at Carlisle Crown Court today. A judge opted not to active the prison term because any time spent in custody would be short, and instead added an eight-week night time curfew to the order he had received in early 2021.
For the new offences, Torrance was ordered to comply with a two-year community order comprising a rehabilitation activity requirement. He was also banned from driving for 18 months.
