Driving instructor banned after being caught drug-driving

A driving instructor has been banned from driving for 18 months after being found driving under the influence of drugs.

The 31 year old woman of Kingswood Chase, Leigh, was driving a black Ford Fiesta with a driving school board on its roof, at the junction of the A127 and A130 from Rayleigh to Southend when she was stopped by police at around 2.55pm on Thursday, 27th April. The police proceeded to perform a roadside drugs test which indicated she may be over the prescribed limit for drugs.

The woman was arrested on suspicion of drug driving and taken to Southend police station where blood tests revealed she had had cannabis and cocaine in her system. At Southend Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, October 19 the woman was banned from driving for 18 months, fined £100 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Sergeant Martin Allen, from the Casualty Reduction Unit, said: “Drug driving is completely unacceptable. It slows your reactions and could lead you to have a crash where you or someone else is seriously hurt or even killed. I find it hard to believe anyone would want to take that kind of risk with their safety. I find it particularly galling in this case as this woman was meant to be responsible for learner and inexperienced drivers and should have known better.”

Safe driving from Britannia!