A MAN was found to be seven times the cocaine limit when he was behind the wheel of his car – at a time when there was a child as a passenger in the vehicle.

A court heard how James Howell, 45, of Stryd Maelor in Bwlchgwyn, Wrexham, had been stopped driving a Peugeot in Berse Road, Wrexham, on December 22.

He had admitted driving it while disqualified and without insurance and had been dealt with by Wrexham magistrates by a three-month curfew, a £120 fine, and a nine month driving ban.

But he had also provided a positive cocaine test and a blood test showed that he had 69 miligrammes of cocaine in his blood compared to the legal level of ten.

At Flintshire Magistrates’ Court at Mold he admitted drug driving.

Deputy District Judge Timothy Gascoyne said that the charges should have been dealt with together.

He said he would receive no additional penalty – but a new driving ban of 18 months would be imposed.

The defendant was seven times the cocaine limit and had a child in the car at the time, he said.

Simon Simons, defending, said that Howell had not taken cocaine that day but had been in his system from an earlier occasion.

The defendant was a carer for his mother who was aged 96.

He had spent the day in the cells, he said.