Hartlepool driver had 'frighteningly high' amount of drugs in system

Shane Houghton, 23, of Greenock Road, pleaded guilty to three charges of drug driving and a charge of driving without insurance when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court.

Rachel Stapleton, prosecuting, said police on patrol were concerned about Houghton’s driving when they saw him at around 10.30pm on Wynyard Mews on May 11 last year and pulled him over.

She said: “He was slurring his speech and appeared unsteady on his feet.”

Initial tests on the scene showed there were traces of cannabis and cocaine and he was arrested.

Further tests revealed he had 23 units of cocaine in his blood, with the limit being 10, he had 5.4 units of cannabis, with the limit being four, and 200 units of Benzoylecgonine (BZE a cocaine breakdown product) with the limit being 50.

Houghton, who was unrepresented in court, said: “I am sorry and I hold my hands up to the action I took and take responsibility for it.”

Chairman of the magistrates’ bench, Carole Freeman Dunn, said: “It was a frighteningly high reading.”

She said it was worrying to think he was out there driving around having taken so many drugs and that he could have caused an accident.

Houghton was given a 12-month community order and banned from driving for 18 months. He was also ordered to pay a £90 surcharge and costs of £85.