A Monkton man who was stopped on his motorcycle with cannabis in his system has been handed a 12 month driving disqualification after admitting the charge in court.
Twenty-seven-year-old Mark Briskham, of Gwilliam Court, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, to plead guilty to charges of driving his Honda 125 motorcycle with 28 ug/L of cocaine in his blood; and 744 ug/L of Benzoylegonine.
Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told the court that Mr. Briskham was stopped initially by police officers on Devon Drive in Pembroke, on November 10, due to a moving traffic offence.
“He was clearly under the influence when officers spoke to him and he showed erratic behaviour. Mr. Briskham told officers that he had taken cocaine prior to driving,” she said.
Defence solicitor Mike Kelleher told the court that the defendant had taken cocaine the night before he got on his bike.
“He has previously served a lengthy prison spell and when he came out he was clean of drugs. He has co-operated fully with the probation service, even communicating with youngsters to try to tell them to avoid his mistakes and habits. The defendant has had significant drugs and alcohol problems in the past and is doing his best to overcome them.
“On this occasion it was a difficult experience as he was told by one of his children in care that they had been struck, so Mr. Briskham relapsed and took cocaine. He has not touched drugs since,” added Mr. Kelleher.
Magistrates disqualified the defendant from driving for 12 months and fined him £120 for the offence.
He was also ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a £30 victim surcharge.