Drug-driving food delivery man caught by police after ignoring red light

A drug-driving food delivery man was caught red-handed after police spotted him ignoring a set of traffic lights.

Darren Smith, 43, of Cresswell Street in Lynn, appeared at the town’s magistrates’ court last Thursday charged with three offences.

He pleaded guilty to drug-driving, failing to comply with a red light, and driving without third party insurance – offences he committed on March 6.

Crown prosecutor Nicola Lamb told magistrates that on that date, police had pulled Smith over after he drove straight through a traffic signal on Old Sunday in Lynn town centre without making any attempt to stop.

Officers found evidence of food delivery items in his car, and subsequently discovered that he was not covered by business insurance for the Audi A4 he was driving.

They then noted the scent of cannabis coming from the car – and after failing a roadside drug test, an evidential sample revealed Smith had 6.6mcg of the Class B drug per litre of blood in his system. The legal limit to drive is 2mcg.

In mitigation, Charlotte Winchester told magistrates that Smith “consumed a lot of cannabis” over the two days prior to his arrest, but said that he co-operated fully with police.

Having worked in a warehouse in Holbeach, Lincolnshire for 16 years before it closed, he has been largely out of work since then.

“To his credit, this has been a wake-up call to him,” the solicitor said.

“He has really cut down with cannabis use. He is ashamed, remorseful – I don’t think you will see back here. It has really shaken him up.”

Magistrates, led by Terrance Geater, disqualified Smith from the roads for 12 months and fined him £120 for drug-driving.

He will also pay £50 in legal costs and a £48 victim surcharge, while his driving licence has been endorsed for driving through the red light and having no insurance.