More on KentOnline
A weed smoker who crashed into a parked car while high on cannabis has lost his licence and has stopped seeing his spliff-smoking friends.
Samuel Harding came to the attention of police after crashing his Ford Focus into a parked car in Gillingham while high on the class B drug.
The 19-year-old immediately told officers he had been smoking it and a court heard he has now stopped seeing his weed-smoking friends as they were a “bad influence”.
Harding, of Wayfield Road, Chatham, admitted drug driving when he appeared at Medway Magistrates’ Court on January 29.
The court heard the incident happened on October 1, last year.
Debbie Jones, prosecuting, said: “There were two passengers in the vehicle and it had collided with an unoccupied parked vehicle.
“Officers could smell cannabis and the driver admitted he had been smoking it and a drug swipe proved positive.”
The prosecutor also told the court as a precaution Harding had been taken to Medway Maritime Hospital to get checked over.
Then his blood was tested at a police station and he was found to have 3.5 micrograms of cannabis per litre of blood. The legal limit is 2.
Dotun Ogunfolu, defending, said his client had been smoking with friends but had now stopped.
He added: “They were a bad influence (the friends) and he’s stopped smoking with them and has his parents’ support and is a carer for his mum and takes her to her hospital appointments.
“He’s starting a job as a mechanic on Monday and he pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity. There was a collision, but it was low-level.
“He now has a dent in his record and wants to walk on the right path. He’s not smoked it since then (the crash).”
Magistrates placed Harding on a 12-month community order which will see him complete 70 hours of unpaid work.
He was also banned from driving for 17 months and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 and £85 court costs.