A FLINTSHIRE man who took cocaine on a night out to mark the King's coronation found himself in custody for drug-driving the next day.

Justin Jones, of New Road in Holywell, appeared at Mold Crown Court for sentence on Thursday morning.

The 54-year-old had previously admitted one offence of drug driving, which the court heard put him in breach of a suspended sentence.

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Matthew Dunford, prosecuting, told the court that at around 10pm on May 7 this year, police on duty on the A548 at Flint spotted a Citroen van which appeared to be "struggling to stay in lane."

The vehicle was stopped and the driver, Jones, told the officers he would 'probably fail a drug test' - which he did.

Following a positive reading, he admitted he'd been out the previous night for the King's coronation and had taken cocaine.

The Leader:

When his blood was sampled, he was found to have a reading of more than 400 microgrammes of benzoylecgonine (a cocaine breakdown product also referred to as BZE) in a litre of blood; the limit being 50.

In limited submissions to the court, Lionel Greig, defending, said: "He entered a prompt guilty plea in the Magistrates Court and is seeking employment."

He added his client would have to find someone to drive him to work given the inevitable driving ban the court would be imposing.

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Judge Niclas Parry said Jones was "clearly skating on very thin ice" but he opted not to activate the suspended sentence.

He handed down a six month community order with 20 hours of rehabilitation activity for the drug driving, as well as an 18 month driving ban.

"Don't come back with a second breach," he warned the defendant.