A drug driver was still over the limit when he got behind the wheel two days after eating cannabis in Amsterdam.
Aaron Tuck had been returning from work abroad and had gone via the Netherland's Capital, where he admitted going to a cafe and consuming the class B drug. However, "a couple of days later" once he returned to the UK, he was stopped by police in his Mercedes C class after he was seen "driving erratically" in Bedlington, a court heard.
A drugs test later proved the 21-year-old was over the limit for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is a breakdown product of cannabis.
Tuck, of Keeble Court, in Ashington, has now been banned from the roads for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to driving while over the specified drugs limit. He was also fined £300 and ordered to pay £40 costs and a £34 victim surcharge.
Niamh Reading, prosecuting at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court, said an officer was on mobile patrol in Bedlington at around 10pm on November 8 last year. She added: "At this time, the officer's attention is drawn to a black Mercedes being driven in an erratic manner - it was accelerating then braking harshly.
"The vehicle is stopped and the officer spoke to the defendant. Due to the manner of driving, the officer conducted a roadside drugs procedure and it was positive for THC."
The court heard that Tuck denied his driving was erratic, insisting he'd been braking for a junction on a small section of road. Graham Crouth, defending, said Tuck had been in the Armed Forces until November last year and had been returning from Kenya when he stopped off at Amsterdam on his way home.
Mr Crouth continued: "He accepts he did go in a cafe and consume cannabis. He then came back to this country through Birmingham. He had been here for a couple of days when he drove but the cannabis was still in his system."
