Hartlepool BMW motorist caught drug driving only months after finishing ban for similar offence

Lee Moore, from Hartlepool, was pulled over by police in a routine stop while he was driving a silver BMW car.

Teesside Magistrates’ Court was told his “pupils were dilated” and that he failed a drugs swipe.

Paul Clark, prosecuting, said: “He admitted using cocaine in the early hours of the previous day.”

Moore was arrested and subsequent tests showed the presence of 59 micrograms per litre of blood of benzoylecgonine, a derivative of cocaine, in his system.

The legal limit is 50 micrograms per litre of blood.

Neil Taylor, in mitigation, told the court that Moore made “full and frank admissions” to the officers and “co-operated fully at the roadside and in the police station”.

He added: “ It is a classic example of how long cocaine, or rather a derivative, stays in the system.

"He said it was taken 36 hours earlier and he was still slightly over the limit.”

Moore, 30, of Poole Gardens, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to drug driving in Haverton Hill Road on December 1 of last year.

The court was told that he was banned from driving for 18 months in September 2020 after a previous drug-driving conviction.

Chairman of the bench David Bennett told Moore: “It is very disappointing to see you in court again for the same offence.”

Moore was banned from driving for three years for his latest offence and ordered to pay a £461 fine, £184 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.