A driver has been banned from the road and given a court bill of more than £300 after being caught more than three times over the limit for cannabis.

Daniel Krzysiek, aged 23, appeared before Weymouth Magistrates Court on Thursday, February 22 charged with driving without insurance and driving under the influence of a controlled drug on Weymouth Avenue in Dorchester on August 21, 2023. 

Robert Salame, prosecuting, said that Krzysiek had come to the attention of a police officer who noticed the defendant was driving a vehicle, an Audi, whose insured driver was a woman.

Upon pulling Krzysiek over, the officer noticed a 'strong smell of cannabis' on him. A later blood test showed he had 7 micrograms of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (the substance associated with cannabis) per millimetre in his blood - more than three times the legal limit of 2 micrograms.

The court heard he worked as a delivery driver - but had not been working at the time of the offence. 

Kenny Sharpe, mitigating, said that Krzysiek had genuinely believed he was insured to drive other people's vehicles due to comprehensive insurance on his own vehicle. He was driving his partner's car, and she wouldn't have allowed him to drive it if she didn't believe he had insurance.

Mr Sharpe said the defendant, of Barnes Close in Sturminster Newton, did not have any cannabis on him at the time and disputes that the officer could smell any cannabis on him.

He claimed the drug test was prompted after answering the officer's question about drug intake which he answered honestly, saying he had taken cannabis seven days before.

The court heard that upon receiving his summons, Krzysiek quit his job as a delivery driver and has been relying upon his family's financial support since.

Krzysiek, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to both counts and was fined £100 for having no insurance, and £100 for the drug offence. He was ordered to pay £85 costs and a surcharge of £80. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months.