A mother who was eight times the drug-driving limit after snorting cocaine told a court she is at her ‘wits’ end’ as a driving ban means she will struggle taking her two disabled children to school.
Police asked Nicole Wheatley, 30, of Middlewich, Cheshire, to do a drugs test when they were called to a house following an incident involving her ex-partner in January.
The hair stylist failed the test, which showed she had 390 micrograms of benzoylecgonine (BZE) per litre of blood in her system, with the legal limit being 50mg.
She said she had taken cocaine ‘recreationally’ with her friends over the weekend. Wheatley later admitted driving her BMW 3 Series car to her partner’s home in Crewe under the influence of BZE, a breakdown product of cocaine.
She claimed to have ‘unwittingly’ broken the law as she thought the drug had left her system.
Nicole Wheatley, 30, failed a drugs test after driving under the influence of benzoylecgonine (BZE), a breakdown product of cocaine
Wheatley was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120. She has now claimed the ban will affect her children getting to school
At Crewe magistrates’ court she was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120.
She said her conviction meant she would struggle to do the school run and go to work as a local bus route was about to be shut down.
Yvonne Dobson, prosecuting, said: ‘The matter relates back to January 8 when officers were requested to attend an address in Crewe due to a police report.
‘On arrival at the location, the officers were given information in relation to the defendant and due to the information received the officers requested the defendant to provide a sample for a roadside drug test.
‘Her eyes were glazed, her pupils were dilated. She was defensive and emotional saying that she was being treated unfairly. Her behaviour was erratic and her voice was raised. She was moving around the pavement.
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‘She was advised that she could be arrested if she did not provide a sample. She then provided a sample of saliva which came back as positive for cocaine. She was arrested and taken back to custody where the drug driving procedure was followed and complied with.
‘The results showed that the defendant was over the limit. In relation to the defendant’s previous convictions, she was of previous good character having no previous convictions. She has now lost this.’
In defence, lawyer Ms Lesley Herman said: ‘I am sure that you have seen many people come to court who have taken recreational drugs over the weekend and do not realise that the by-product is still in their system and are unwittingly breaking the law.
Wheatley claimed she had taken cocaine ‘recreationally’ with friends that weekend
Drug tests showed Wheatley had 390 micrograms of BZE per litre of blood in her system, the legal limit being 50mg
‘Police arrived following an incident. The incident happened with her ex-partner. She was then drug tested and this is the result.
‘She is very upset about the whole incident, primarily because she lives in Middlewich and she has two disabled children who she takes to school in Sandbach.
‘She also works there at a salon. She is constantly driving. There is no bus route and there is no other way to get there. She is at her wits’ end trying to work out how to get her children to school let alone get to work.
‘It is going to have a massive impact. There is a bus but that route is now stopping. She is in an impossible situation. I ask that you take that into account. She was only found to be over the limit for the by-product of cocaine, there were no other drugs in her body.
‘Although she had an income she will probably lose that. Her income is going to be severely diminished, and she will probably to have to go on benefits. ‘
Wheatley was also ordered to pay £168 in costs and victim surcharge. JP Neil Fowkes said: ‘We have no discretion over the disqualification, which is required by law. You must not drive. If you were to do so you could be imprisoned, so please do not do so.’
