A DRUG-DRIVER maintained a snap bag of cocaine was bicarbonate of soda – despite tests confirming it was the class A drug.

Bradd Jefferson, 27, had been driving a Renault Clio in Workington on the morning of February 9 when police carried out a check of the vehicle.

Pamela Fee, prosecuting at Workington Magistrates’ Court, said the checks showed that only a female was insured to drive the car.

Jefferson was stopped and told officers that he was a learner driver and wasn’t insured to drive. There was a smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle and a drugs wipe was positive for cannabis.

A search of the vehicle was carried out and a small bag of white powder was found. This was tested and confirmed to be cocaine.

A sample of blood was taken from Jefferson at the police station which showed he had 3.9mcg of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The specified limit is 2mcg.

Jefferson told police that the cannabis was for his own personal use and he didn’t have a problem with the drug. He claimed that the white powder was bicarbonate of soda, which his brother-in-law had put in a bag.

Ms Fee said the defendant was given ‘multiple opportunities’ to admit it was cocaine. After being told that the substance had been tested and confirmed to be cocaine, Jefferson claimed the bag it had been put in must have had cocaine in it previously. He said he ‘thought it was bicarb’.

A probation officer said Jefferson had admitted smoking a joint the night before he had driven. He said he didn’t believe there was any cocaine in the snap bag and he had believed it was bicarbonate of soda.

Jefferson said he had driven a short journey to collect some laundry and made a ‘bad decision’ to take his girlfriend’s car.

The court heard that Jefferson had been diagnosed with multiple unstable personality disorder. He can make poor choices and ‘doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions’.

Jefferson, of Far Moss, Northside, Workington, pleaded guilty to:

  • Driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit
  • Possessing a Class A drug
  • Possessing a Class B drug
  • Driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence
  • Using a motor vehicle on a road / public place without third party insurance

Magistrates imposed a three-year driving ban and a 12-month community order with 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Jefferson must pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge. An order was made for the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.