A single mother was caught drug-driving twice in 48 hours – after snorting cocaine before getting behind the wheel with a four-year-old child unrestrained in the back seat.
Lela Snape, 28, tested almost eight times the legal limit for cocaine ingestion when she was pulled over by police driving her Renault Clio in September.
An officer spotted the youngster in the back without a seatbelt on and with no booster seat before arresting the driver.
Snape was then released pending further enquiries – but two days later was arrested again after collecting her car, again having taken cocaine.
On the second occasion she was found to be more than eight times the drug drive limit.
Crewe Magistrates Court heard Snape, from Macclesfield in Cheshire, told officers the offences were a ‘mistake’.
She claimed she had been taking cocaine as she felt ‘isolated’, and has since moved back in with her mother temporarily, the court was told.
Lela Snape, 28, was stopped by police and was found to be almost eight times over the drug-drive limit
The officer who stopped her car found a four-year-old child in the back of the car unrestrained
Lela Snape outside Crewe Magistrates Court, where she was given a £240 fine and banned from driving for 14 months
Louise Dempster, prosecuting, said: ‘On September 23 of this year, around 6.40pm, PC Price stopped the defendant driving a Renault Clio on Congleton Road, Sandbach.
‘It had just been sighted in the Congleton area and the reason the car was stopped as the occupants were suspected of being involved in an unrelated matter not before the court today.
‘There were two adult males in the car with a four year old child who was not secured in a child seat or wearing a seat belt.
‘A roadside test was positive for cocaine and the defendant arrested and taken to East Cheshire custody facility for the drug drive procedure.’
She continued: ‘Two days later, on September 25, PC Price caused the defendant in the same vehicle to stop on Electra Way, Crewe.
‘The vehicle was said to have a marker due to having no MOT. That was the reason it was stopped.
‘A roadside drug wipe resulted in a positive indication for cocaine. She was therefore arrested and conveyed to custody for the drug drive procedure.
‘The defendant has no previous convictions but the first offence was aggravated due to passengers being carried, one of those being a child.’
Blood tests showed Snape had 397 micrograms (mg) of benzoylecgonine (BZE), the breakdown product of cocaine, in her system on the first occasion and 423mg on the second. The legal limit is 50mg.
Stuart Flood, speaking for Snape, said the mother had acknowledged her ‘serious error of judgement’ after ‘struggling with drugs’, which she had since stopped using.
Blood tests showed Snape had almost eight times the legal limit of the cocaine byproduct BZE in her system. She told police she had been taking cocaine because she felt ‘isolated’
Lela Snape outside court. Her lawyer told the court she had been ‘struggling with drugs’ but was no longer taking them
Mr Flood added: ‘She had been taking friends to their home address in Crewe when she was pulled over by police.
‘She had taken drugs a few days before and they were still in her system but there was no suggestion of bad driving.
‘The concern is the child without a seat belt while she was driving the vehicle. She then compounded that when she came back to Crewe to pick up the car.
‘In between she had some drugs and that is why there were drugs in her system.
‘She is very embarrassed and very ashamed about the whole situation. It is clear that she has already learned from her mistake and she wants to move on.
‘That is perhaps why she has temporarily moved in with mum for a bit of support there. Perhaps she felt that she had been a bit isolated before bringing up the child on her own.
‘She had on occasions felt a bit down and that is perhaps why drugs were used. An error has been made, she knows that.
‘There have been some mistakes made and the fact that she has recognised that and done something about it herself is a step in the right direction.’
Snape was handed a £240 fine, a 14 month driving ban and £181 in costs and a surcharge.
