A VAN driver was caught behind the wheel in Hereford after taking a class A drug.

James Sparey entered a guilty plea to one count of driving a motor vehicle while over the drug limit when he appeared before a district judge in Kidderminster in December.

The court heard from Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor Val Hart that the 34-year-old had driven a Renault Trafic van in Hereford's Belmont Road while over the drug-driving limit on August 18.

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An evidential blood test revealed he had 373 microgrammes of class A controlled drug cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal driving limit is 50 microgrammes per litre.

Sparey, who is of Clehonger, Herefordshire, was fined £400 and disqualified from driving for 15 months for the offence, with the district judge saying he had taken the guilty plea into account when imposing the penalty.

He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £135 and a £160 victim surcharge, which is used to help fund services supporting victims of crime.

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