A driver who fell asleep at the wheel in the M6 has been brought to court after police also found he had taken cocaine.
Roy Thain, 51, was one of nine people whose cases were listed at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court today after they were charged with drug-driving.
Their prosecutions come as Cumbria police continue both to target dangerous driving in the 15-week Operation Colossus, which has seen hundreds of vehicles stopped, arrests and prosecutions.
Magistrates heard how police were called to reports of a road traffic accident between junction 41 of the M6 and Southwaite Services, northbound, on March 27 this year.
This involved a Nissan Note being driven by Thain, who identified himself and admitted liability for the collision straight away. He told officers he had felt drowsy and nodded off at the wheel. He said an ongoing medical issue was being investigated by a GP.
A drug wipe test provided positive for cocaine which he had taken previously at a party. When an evidential sample was analysed, this showed the level of a cocaine metabolite in his bloodstream was 10 times the legal driving limit.
In court Thain, of Windmill Hill, Runcorn, admitted careless driving, drug driving and having no insurance. The court heard he faced a three-year driving ban owing to a previous motoring conviction which dated back to 2017.
Magistrates adjourned the case for preparation of a probation pre-sentence report and indicated they were not ruling out a prison sentence. A defence lawyer said Thain faced losing his job as a result of the latest offending. He was bailed, given an interim disqualification and is due to be sentenced on a future date.
- Eight other motorists — aged 27 to 60 and with addresses in Cumbria and further afield — also had drug-driving cases listed at the magistrates court today. All but one concerned cocaine or a cocaine breakdown product. The other related to cannabis. A Birmingham woman, aged 48, had two cases listed following incidents just four days apart. It is alleged she was guilty of drug-driving in the same Vauxhall Corsa, during two separate journeys on the M6 just south of Carlisle, on March 31 and April 4.
