33-year-old caught smoking cannabis in back of his car was ‘self-medicating to calm himself down’

A man caught smoking in the back of his car to ”calm himself” has escaped a driving ban.Ricky Robson, 33, of The Croft, Little Snoring, pleaded guilty to being in charge of his Vauxhall Corsa while under the influence of cannabis when he appeared before Lynn magistrates on Thursday.Asif Akram, prosecuting, said police attended McDonald’s in Swaffham on April 8 following reports of a possible driving offence being committed in the restaurant’s car park.

They located the car and spoke to a man sitting in the back seat, who turned out to be Robson. Officers asked him to get out of the car and as he opened the door, they could smell cannabis.Mr Akram said officers reported that his eyes were glazed. The car keys were in the ignition but the engine was not running.A drug test showed Robson had 3mcg of cannabis in his system, the legal limit is 2mcg. George Sorrell said in mitigation that Robson suffers from a variety of health problems, as well as ADHD and autism.He said on the day in question, Robson was feeling aggravated due to various factors and that made him smoke the cannabis. “In a sense he was self-medicating,” said Mr Sorrell. “He was trying to calm down and had no intention to drive.”Mr Sorrell acknowledged Robson was facing a possible disqualification but urged magistrates to consider endorsing his licence with penalty points instead.He said Robson had considerable difficulties and added that everyone makes mistakes from time to time. He said Robson would learn from this one. “There is no reason to suppose he was going to drive,” added Mr Sorrell.Magistrates decided against banning Robson, instead, they put 10 penalty points on his licence and warned him any more would lead to an automatic ban.Robson was also fined £80 with £40 costs and a £32 victim surcharge.