Driver refused a drug test after cocaine swipe

Chesterfield magistrates’ court heard on Tuesday, September 27, how Ryan Mark Proctor, 26, of Elmsfield Avenue, Heanor, was stopped by police after he was driving with two children in the rear of his vehicle while they were not wearing seat belts.

Prosecuting solicitor Becky Allsop said: “Officers observed him driving a vehicle full of occupants including two small children in the rear who weren’t restrained with seat belts and that was why he was stopped. Officers performed a roadside swab-swipe for the presence of drugs and it came back positive for cocaine and he was arrested and taken to the police station.”

Police requested Proctor provide a specimen of blood which he refused, according to Mrs Allsop. Proctor pleaded guilty to failing to provide a specimen for analysis after the incident on September 9. Defence solicitor Robert Wetton argued that five or six days after taking drugs there can still be drugs in the system and this does not mean it will affect driving. He added there had been no evidence of bad driving and if Proctor had been tested Mr Wetton did not think it would have been possible to prosecute the defendant for being unfit to drive.

However, Mrs Allsop argued there is an offence of being over the legal limit regarding drugs but the court will never know the result of that because Proctor had refused to provide a specimen.

Magistrates adjourned the case to consider a probation report before sentencing on October 6.