A court has heard how a Carlisle drug-driver told his lawyer he would get a lot fitter by push-biking to work after being banned from getting behind the wheel for the offence.
Christopher Allison, 33, made the comment to a solicitor before his case was called on at the city’s magistrates court.
When he appeared in front of magistrates, Allison, of Greystone Road, pleaded guilty to driving with the proportion of a cocaine metabolite above the legal limit.
Prosecutor Pam Ward told the court a police officer stopped Allison’s Ford Focus after it went through an amber traffic light on Nelson Bridge close to the city centre at around 10.30pm on February 24.
“The PC noticed his pupils appeared quite large,” said Mrs Ward. A drug wipe test was carried out which produced a positive cocaine test, and Allison was found to have far more of the illegal class A substance’s breakdown product in his bloodstream than is allowed by law.
The court heard Allison was convicted of drug-driving in May, 2018, and later that year had four convictions for a similar offence, said the prosecutor.
Lauren Heasley, defending, described Allison as a man of few words and pragmatic, having told her of the latest brush with the law: “It is is what it is. I will make no excuses. I’ve been here before. I know what to expect.”
Cocaine had previously been a problem at difficult times for Allison although his circumstances were presently very good, and he had full-time construction work.
“He says he will get a lot fitter by push-biking to work,” Ms Heasley said of the instructions she’d taken from Allison about the imminent driving ban.
A probation officer who interviewed Allison spoke of a long-standing cocaine addiction.
“He tells me he had used it on the evening of this offence. He hadn’t felt under the influence. He hadn’t thought it would be in his system and affect his driving,” said the officer.
Allison was made subject to a 12-month community order comprising a rehabilitation requirement and 60 hours’ unpaid work. He was also banned from driving for 36 months with immediate effect.
