Fine and road ban for drug-driver caught in Alness

A DRUG-driver caught in a Highland community has been fined £600 and banned from the road for a year.

Archibald MacDonald, Bontine Avenue, Dunbarton, was stopped at the wheel of a van at Coul Park, Alness on June 4, 2020.

Tests showed him to have 6.7mg of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, a component of cannabis, per litre of blood. The limit is 2mg.

MacDonald (28), admitted at Tain Sheriff Court yesterday a charge of driving with the drug in his system.

Defence agent Reuben Murdanaigum said his client was from a travelling family and was self-employed, doing landscaping and seasonal work.

“He had been visiting some friends and was enticed to smoke some cannabis,” said the lawyer. “It never occurred to him that that would affect his driving.”

Mr Murdanaigum asked the court to be as “lenient as possible”.