Drug driver from South Shields stopped by police in Jarrow dropped bag of cocaine in back of police car
A South Tyneside man was prosecuted for drug driving after he dropped a bag containing cocaine in the back of a police car, a court heard.
Michael Storey, 37, was pulled over in Lynton Avenue, Jarrow, on suspicion of not having insurance for a Ford Focus on Friday, August 1.
Storey, of Alice Street, near Chichester, South Shields, was placed into the back of the officer’s vehicle and gave no sign he was impaired by drugs.
But suspicions were raised when police noticed he had left a plastic bag containing cocaine on the back seat when told he could get out.
Prosecutor Lesley Burgess said it led to him being drug tested, which proved positive for the prohibited class A drug – and he confessed the bag was also his.
Mrs Burgess added: “The officer describes being on mobile patrol in the Jarrow area and seeing a Ford Focus. It showed as having no insurance.
“He stopped the vehicle and spoke to the driver, who accepted that there was no insurance.
“He got up to get out of the police vehicle and was brought out of the back of the vehicle.
“The officer could see a plastic bag with a white powder in the rear of his vehicle where the defendant had been.
“He asked him to go back into the vehicle and arrested and cautioned him. The defendant accepted that the bag belonged to him.
“Because he was driving with no insurance and had cocaine, he was drug swabbed and taken to a police station.
“He has not been before a court since 2017, but you will note that in 2014 there was a conviction for excess alcohol.”
At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, unemployed Storey pleaded guilty to charges of drug driving, possession of cocaine and driving without insurance.
He gave a reading in blood for cocaine of 32mcg. The legal limit is 10mcg.
Ian Cassidy, defending, said: “What Mr Storey says is that he had taken the car out, it had been in the garage for some time.
“He said that previously the vehicle he had was covered by insurance and that he was covered to drive multiple vehicles.
“He assumed he was ok to drive this vehicle, but he accepts that he got that wrong.
“He was in the back of the police car and for an unknown reason, he took the bag out of his pocket. It was seen by the police.
“It was a small amount of cocaine for personal use. He says that he hasn’t taken any since – this was a bit of a wake-up call.
“There’s no evidence that he was presenting as under the influence, there were no obvious signs of impairment.”
Magistrates banned Storey from driving for 12 months and fined him £140, with £85 court costs and a £56 victim surcharge, and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.