A former Newtown man who was pulled over by the police had so much cocaine in his system that he gave a reading 14 times over the drug driving limit.

Laurie Coleman, 30, was banned from driving for 23 months and given a new 12-month community order when he pleaded guilty to three charges at Welshpool Magistrates’ Court.

Coleman told the two police officers that stopped him in Lower Canal Road, Newtown on September 13 that he had taken cannabis the previous day. The court heard that there was no mention by the police of poor driving from Coleman who was driving a Daihatsu Fourtrak.

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He admitted having 33 microgrammes of cocaine in his system, when the limit is 10; having 738 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite Benzoylecgonine when the limit is 50, and two microgrammes of cannabis metabolite Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol when the limit is three.

Owain Jones, mitigating for Coleman, told the magistrates: “Just before walking to court I challenged him about his drug use, and he tells me he’s trying to get away from the circles he was in in this area and trying afresh in a new area in Harrogate.”

County Times:

Julian Davies, probation officer, said Coleman was resentenced for a 12-month community order after being convicted of sending a menacing Facebook post which led to some schools in Newtown going into lockdown.

He told the court that Coleman has engaged well with the order and his supervising officer described him as “exemplary” and there were no issues about his behaviour during appointments.

Magistrates decided to disqualify Coleman, of Harrogate, Yorkshire, from driving for 23 months, and imposed a new 12-month community order with 15 rehabilitation requirement days and 68 hours of unpaid work.

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