One of Shropshire's first drug drivers spared jail after being caught again
One of the first people arrested for drug driving in Shropshire has narrowly escaped being jailed after appearing in court charged with the same offence again.
Jason Robert Butter, of Maer Lane, Market Drayton, was among the first people in the country to be charged with driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit after the law was introduced in March 2015.
He was handed a three-year ban by magistrates in May of that year after admitting the offence that took place just six days after the law was introduced on March 2.
Appearing at Telford Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, the 35-year-old again pleaded guilty to drug driving as well as driving while disqualified and using a motor vehicle on a road without third party insurance.
Prosecutor Sara Beddow told magistrates that Butter was arrested after being pulled over in his Transit van near to junction 5 of the M54 at Telford on Boxing Day last year.
After his arrest, his blood showed he had not less than 292 microgrammes per litre of blood of the cocaine marker BZE, the court was told. The legal limit is 50 microgrammes.
She added that Butter was currently banned from driving after being caught driving under the influence of alcohol in January last year.
Defending Butter, Steven Meredith told magistrates his client had "significant issues" that needed to be addressed and that his cocaine and drink problems were "attributable to his mental health".
Sparing Butter from jail, chairman of the bench David Styles handed down a 16-week jail sentence, but suspended it for two years.
He told Butter: "You have an appalling driving record. It is a concern looking at your record, the persistent failure to comply with court orders over a number of years."
He also banned Butter from the roads for four years and warned him that if he was caught behind the wheel while disqualified again, he faced jail.
Butter was also ordered to pay £289 costs.
