A teenager who was caught ‘drug driving’ twice within a fortnight in Pembrokeshire has been given a lengthy motoring ban.
Nineteen-year-old Hannah Jade Griffiths, of Hayscastle, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, February 27, to plead guilty to driving her Vauxhall Corsa in Pembroke, on December 18, and in Haverfordwest on December 30, with cannabis in her system.
The court heard that the defendant was stopped in her vehicle by police officers, firstly at The Green in Pembroke, and then again a few days after Christmas Day in Scarrowscant Lane, Haverfordwest, with a proportion of the drug in her blood.
Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told the court that police officers detected the cannabis as a result of a saliva swipe.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that there was no suggestion that there had been anything wrong with Miss Griffiths’s driving when she was stopped.
“At the time she was going through a difficult time, and suffering with depression. She has since attended a drugs meeting set up by the police and is also voluntarily attending sessions with DDAS the Dyfed Drug and Alcohol Service, to assist her getting over the problems she had.
“Miss Griffiths has not touched any drugs since. She lives in a small village outside of Haverfordwest, and with a limited bus service, now going to the doctors, dentist, job centre, and shopping will be difficult without her driving licence,” added Mr. Kelleher.
Magistrates handed Miss Griffiths a 12 month driving ban for the first offence, and an 18 month disqualification for the second, to run concurrently.
She was also fined £100 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.