A dad with a '15-year' weed habit - who claims he smokes it to deal with a 'debilitating' back injury - could 'rely on state benefits', but choses to work six days a week, his lawyer said as he appeared in court for drug driving.
Lee Maynard, 34, was caught by cops after they passed him in the street at 10am and smelled marijuana coming from his van.
The 35-year-old, from Stockport, was nearly two-and-a-half times the legal limit for cannabis. He denied smoking the drug in his vehicle, saying he did so at night to alleviate back pain.
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Inquiries revealed he had a previous drug driving conviction from 2017, South Cheshire Magistrates' Court heard. Maynard was banned from the road for thee years after pleading guilty to drug driving.
He had 4.9 micrograms of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per litre of blood in his system. The legal limit is 2mcg/l. Yvonne Dobson, prosecuting, said he was pulled over just off The Silk Road in Macclesfield on December 4, 2022.
"The officers noticed that he is smoking and as they emerged from the roundabout, they noticed a very strong smell of cannabis and so they stopped the defendant," she added. "He was asked to take a roadside DrugWipe test which provided a positive result for cannabis.
A probation report, the court heard, read: "Mr Maynard has been candid and disclosed that he has been smoking cannabis for around 15 years. Through our discussion we came to the conclusion he is taking cannabis as a form of self-medication. He has been diagnosed with ADHD and suffers from back problems.
"He has a physical job that can exacerbate that. He suffers from anxiety also. He says he did not feel impaired. He would not have gotten in the car if he felt impaired, but did not understand that it would stay in his system. He has been to his GP who has referred him to his drug treatment charity."
The court heard Maynard has a young son. Defending, Gary Hughes said: "He is deeply embarrassed that he appears before the court today. He very much regrets his actions and shows great remorse and contrition, so much so that when he first appeared before the court, he gave an early guilty plea.
"It is not accepted that he was in fact smoking cannabis prior to being stopped by the police. No cannabis was recovered from the vehicle, certainly not a cannabis joint either. He smokes cigarettes.
"He has smoked cannabis for some time. He does have a very debilitating back injury. Notwithstanding that my client suffers from this injury he works six days a week. He works six days a week in an effort to provide for his family. That work perpetuates and exacerbates that injury.
"I very much suspect that he could rely on state benefits because of it but he does not recognise that as a proper way forward. That's not an example he wants to set for his young son or his partner’s daughter.
"It is right that my client recently attended his GP. He is very much determined to try and discontinue his use of cannabis. He doesn't want to be in the same position when he is finally allowed back on the road.
"His employer was about to have him embark on a HGV course that would have altered his earnings. A road ban is a heavy punishment.
"He was using cannabis because of an injury. He was using it at night when the children were in bed. He was not smoking that morning. Ironically, he should not have been working that morning but he had volunteered to assist his employers.
"He is 35 years of age. He has a long-term partner. He has two beautiful children. He is a very doting father, he has been showing me pictures of his son. And he is somebody that is a decent man.”
Magistrates fined Maynard, of Woodside Drive, High Lane, Stockport, £600 and ordered him to pay £360 in costs and a victim surcharge.
Chair of the bench Sarah Pochin said: "It is clear to us that you have been driving and using drugs for years and you have been caught again. Clearly, your behaviour has gone on and on.
"We have heard you want to be a responsible father. I would not put that in a responsible father bracket. That behaviour needs to be addressed. That's your choice."
In 2016, Maynard was caught drug driving in a Ford Tipper truck and later while on the way to the police station to answer bail was caught drug driving again, that time in his VW Golf.
In April 2017, he was banned from driving for three years after telling the court he was taking cannabis to relieve back pain. he said when stopped on the way to the police station it must have been in his system from the night before.
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