A Huntly man who was fractionally over the legal limit for a cannabis alternative has been spared a driving ban after a court heard he would be left unable to get to work without it.
Ewan Ord appeared at Banff Sheriff Court on Wednesday to be sentenced for having 0.7mg more than the legal limit of delta-9 in his system when officers collared him in a car park near Castleton Bridge earlier this year.
The legal limit of the drug is 2mg per litre of blood.
But instead of having his licence revoked for drug-driving, the 23-year-old was left on the cusp after Sheriff Robert McDonald imposed 10 penalty points.
Bad public transport cited in defence
Ord’s solicitor, Leonard Burkinshaw, told the court that his client required a licence to be able to go to and from work at a farm equipment supplier in Turriff – a 60-mile round trip from his home.
“The reading is relatively low, very, very slightly above the limit,” Mr Burkinshaw said.
“He indicated he had smoked cannabis some time ago, he hadn’t been smoking shortly prior to that but, obviously, as my lord is aware, cannabis stays in your system an extremely long time and one has to be very careful, which he obviously wasn’t at this particular time.
“My lord will appreciate, in this area, public transport is extraordinarily limited. Effectively, if he doesn’t have his car he doesn’t have a job. He won’t be able to get there in any way, shape or form.”
Additional financial penalty
Stopping short of banning Ord, Sheriff Robert McDonald said: “I’ve listened to what’s been said on your behalf and I am taking into account the reading, which is not a huge amount over the limit.
“You should have been more aware – you shouldn’t have taken cannabis in the first place – but you should have been more aware of how long it stays in your system.”
In addition to his penalty points, Ord, whose address was given as a rural property in Huntly, will also pay a fine of £520 at the rate of £100 per month.