Driver caught with cannabis in his system for the fourth time is warned next time it will be jail
A driver caught for the fourth time under the influence of cannabis behind the wheel has been told by a district judge that he faces jail if caught again.
Jason Harding, 46, of Field Crescent in Shrewsbury was pulled over in Leaton near Albrighton on September 5 this year in his Peugeot 308 GT where he was arrested after a roadside test revealed he had cannabis in his system.
District Judge Kevin Grego, sitting at Telford Magistrates Court on Wednesday, was told that it was Harding's fourth offence for being behind the wheel while over the prescribed limit of cannabis, as he had been convicted of the same offence in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Harding told the court that he "wasn't thinking" and apologised for his actions, explaining his mother was suffering from cancer.
Disqualifying Harding from driving for three years and imposing a 12-month community order, including 15 hours in a drug rehabilitation programme, Judge Grego warned that if he was caught again he faced jail.
He said: "I am not going to send you to prison today but the guidelines suggest that it should actually be custody.
"If you come back for a fifth time for an offence of this nature then it will be custody."
The judge also imposed a £563 in fines, costs and surcharges.
