A 69-YEAR-OLD man with a history of drug taking is now banned from the road after being stopped by police driving four times over the legal drug drive limit.

Ronald William John Mattock, who had been smoking cannabis, admitted the offence when appearing at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, December 2.

Prosecutor Stephen Davies said he was stopped by police on July 10 on Wellington Road driving a Volkswagen Golf.

“It was around 10.37pm and PC Shepherd conducted a stop check on the VW Golf being driven by Mr Mattock,” said Mr Davies.

Mr Davies said: “The PC believed the defendant had taken drugs as he smelt cannabis. A drug swipe proved positive and the defendant was arrested. He has a history of drug taking, but no convictions for driving matters.”

The proportion of cannabis in his blood was registered at 8.7 micrograms, exceeding the legal limit which is 2mcgs.

Gareth Walters, acting for Mattock, said: “The facts speak for themselves. It was a random stop check, there was no evidence of bad driving. “There is no relevant offending and although Mr Mattock has a lengthy antecedent history, there has been no offending for the last four years. He is a regular cannabis user, he takes it over regular medication, but he doesn’t use it every day.”

Magistrates disqualified Mattock from driving for 12 months and ordered him to pay a £165 fine, as well as £85 costs and a £34 surcharge.