A drug-driver got behind the wheel after using cannabis because she thought the effects of the drug had “worn off”.
Ellie Mackie, 20, was going through a “particularly difficult period” in her life when she was offered the drug while visiting a friend.
But she was stopped on the way home by police, and subsequently charged with drug-driving, after tests revealed she was more than double the legal limit for cannabis.
Mackie was not present at Inverness Sheriff Court where solicitor David Patterson entered a plea of guilty to the single charge on her behalf.
Drug-driver caught by routine checks
Fiscal depute Pauline Gair told the court that Mackie was pulled over at 1.15am on September 19 last year by police carrying out routine stops on Harbour Road, Inverness.
She said: “On speaking with the driver there was a strong smell of cannabis. Her eyes were red and appeared glazed.”
Officers then carried out roadside checks on Mackie. A breath alcohol test produced a negative result, but a drug wipe tested positive for cannabis.
Driver was double cannabis limit
Further testing revealed Mackie’s level of Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol to be 4.9 microgrammes per litre of blood, the legal limit being 2 microgrammes.
Mr Patterson told the court his “remorseful” client was “not usually a cannabis user” but “was going through a particularly difficult period in her life” when she made the decision to use the drug after being offered it while visiting a friend.
He said: “She drove home thinking the effects had worn off.”
Sheriff Gary Aitken fined Mackie, of Sanquhar Terrace, Forres, £640 and banned her from driving for a year.
