AN apprentice electrician will lose his job after being caught drug-driving in his home town, a court was told.

The magistrate who announced 20-year-old Matt Blenkinsop’s sentence noted he’d been taught “a hard lesson already” after falling foul of the law.

Prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle’s Rickergate court that Blenkinsop was stopped by police while driving a white Citroen C3 on Capon Tree Road in Brampton on January 20.

“He has identified himself,” said Mr Shelley. “Police could smell cannabis. A drug wipe test was conducted and that gave a positive indication for cannabis.”

Blenkinsop went through the evidential testing procedure. The proportion of a psychoactive ingredient of the class B controlled drug in his bloodstream was found to be above the legal driving limit.

In court, Blenkinsop, of Millfield in Brampton, admitted driving with a the proportion of a specified controlled drug above the limit.

He had no previous convictions. But defence solicitor Tariq Khawam said his first offence would have dire consequences.

“As a result of this he will lose his job as an apprentice electrician,” said Mr Khawam. That was because Blenkinsop’s employer was “unequivocal” that no job would be available without a driving licence.

“There is nothing that any one of us can do about that,” the lawyer told magistrates. “He will lose his job. He knows that. He is focused on that, and that his actions have damaged his own future.

“It (cannabis) was something he used for pain relief. He hadn’t smoked it for some time before the stop. It was a number of hours, from his perspective,” added Mr Khawam.

“There are no aggravating features (to the offence). There is no bad driving. It was an ad hoc stop.”

Magistrates fined Blenkinsop £120, and imposed the minimum 12-month mandatory driving ban in recognition of mitigation and looming job loss.

“It is a hard lesson already,” lead magistrate Karen Warwick told him.