A MOTORIST who admitted a drug driving offence hopes to persuade magistrates not to ban him – after claiming his chocolate was spiked with cannabis.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate court, defendant Ramon Deen, 54, was prosecuted following the  police stopping him at Todhills on the M6 near Carlisle on April 1. He was driving a Ford Transit van northwards along the motorway.

A blood test confirmed that he was over the limit for the active ingredient of cannabis, with the result confirming that he had five times the amount of the substance in his body than is permitted in law. 

Appearing before the court via a video link from his home in Augustine Road, Harrow, the defendant entered his guilty plea but then explained that he will argue in court that there are special reasons not to impose the mandatory driving ban.

The defendant then held up a packet of 'medicated' orange-flavoured chocolate, declaring: “I’ve still got the packet.”

At one point inadvertently addressing the presiding magistrate as 'Your Majesty', the defendant said the chocolate he had eaten before driving was 'spiked.'

Defence lawyer Andrew Gurney asked magistrates not to impose an interim ban.

The lawyer said: “He has previously been a man of good character, who has only one previous conviction from 2001 for a completely unrelated matter and had had a clean driving licence."

Magistrates agreed to that request, accepting that the issue of whether the defendant knowingly drove while under the influence of cannabis was yet to be resolved.

They said it would be unfair to impose an interim ban in these circumstances.

The special reason hearing will be held at the same Rickergate court on the afternoon of September 1. The defendant was granted bail until that day.

As the hearing came to a close, Deen said to magistrates: “Thank you and God bless. Thank you and bye-bye.”

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