An Audi driver who took cocaine and cannabis at a party was caught drug driving the next day by police.

Tomasz Kuras, 40, of Fern Square, Newtown, had so much cocaine in his system that he gave a reading of almost 16 times over the drug driving limit.

The Maesyrhandir man was banned from driving for 23 months when he appeared in court this week after pleading guilty to three counts of drug driving.

Helen Tench, prosecuting, said Kuras admitted to police that he'd smoked cannabis the day before after they pulled his Audi A3 over in Pavillion Court on October 2 last year.

He was arrested after a roadside drug wipe tested positive for cocaine and cannabis. At the police station, a blood sample found he had 18 microgrammes of cocaine in his system, when the limit is 10; having 695 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite Benzoylecgonine when the limit is 50, and three microgrammes of cannabis metabolite Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol when the limit is three.

OTHER NEWS:

The court was told two different types of drugs were over the limit which pushed Kuras into the community level threshold. 

Paul Inns, mitigating for Kuras, said: "The circumstances are straightforward. He had been at a party the day before where he consumed cannabis and cocaine. It is not alleged there was any impact on his driving ability. And as my friend rightly points out although there are three offences you are dealing with two distinct types of drug."

Probation officer Julian Davies told the court that Kuras' behaviour has been "good and expressed motivation to change" during a six-month community order for possession of an offensive weapon in a private place which happened after the drug driving offences.

He added: "Concerns have been expressed by his supervising officer regarding the defendant’s health."

County Times:

Magistrates told Kuras that they would allow his current community order to continue with 10 additional rehabilitation requirement days.

Nerys Jones, chair, said: "For this offence we order a concurrent nine-month community order with 15 rehabilitation requirement days. These 15 days would address the drug and alcohol issues.

"You will be fined £40. This has been reduced because of your early guilty plea, it would have been £60."

Magistrates also ordered Kuras to pay a £114 victim surcharge.