A DRIVER was caught behind the wheel in Hereford after taking cocaine, a court has heard.

Declan Ethan Callum Barrett, of Walkers Green, Marden, admitted taking the class A drug when he appeared before magistrates on January 29.

Prosecutor Shafquat Reaz said the 20-year-old was caught after his Mitsubishi Lancer was pulled over by officers on patrol in Hereford’s College Estate at about 10.30pm on September 5.

A drug swipe test performed at the scene was positive for both cannabis and cocaine.

Barrett was taken into custody, where a blood sample showed he had been pushed over the drug-driving limit by the presence of benzoylecgonine, a human by-product of cocaine consumption.

The court heard Barrett had 118 microgrammes of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50.

Marilena Di Vitantonio, mitigating, said Barrett had taken cocaine in the early hours of the morning, several hours before he had got behind the wheel, and that the metabolite benzoylecgonine had been produced by the time he was stopped.

“This offence is one where the drug was just in his system rather than any impairment,” she said.

Magistrates disqualified Barrett from driving for 12 months and fined him £300.

He must also pay costs of £135 and a £32 victim surcharge.