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A DRUG-DRIVER was caught behind the wheel on Hereford's A49 when he was over three times the limit.

Bradley Gibbons, 24, of Upper Lyde, had 177 microgrammes (mg) of benzoylecgonine in his blood when police stopped him in Ross Road in Hereford at 9am on June 14.

The limit for benzoylecgonine is 50 mg.

Prosecuting at Hereford Magistrates' Court, Camila Toscano said officers had received intelligence to suggest that Gibbons was driving under the influence of drugs.

He was driving a Mercedes Sprinter, which was owned by his father. The van was seized after police found that Gibbons had an expired driving licence, no insurance policy and was testing positive for cocaine.

Gibbons was arrested and taken into custody for an evidential drug test, which revealed his reading of benzoylecgonine, which is the main metabolite of cocaine.

The court heard that Gibbons occasionally uses cocaine when out with his friends, but does not have a drug addiction.

He pleaded guilty to one count of driving a vehicle with a proportion of a controlled drug above the specified limit, one count of driving a vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence and one count of using a vehicle on a road without insurance.

Matt Lewis, representing Gibbons, described benzoylecgonine as the "leftovers" of cocaine, and said it did not cause the defendant to feel impaired.

But the offence was aggravated because Gibbons had a passenger in the van, and because he had a previous drug-driving conviction within the last 10 years.

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Gibbons said that he was working full-time and that a driving ban would not affect his job.

Gibbons was disqualified from driving for three years and fined £453.

He will also have to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £341.