Peckish cocaine user caught behind the wheel at McDonald’s drive-thru in South Shields
A peckish cocaine user was caught drug driving when he motored to a South Tyneside McDonald’s drive-thru for a late-night bite.
A peckish cocaine user was caught drug driving when he motored to a South Tyneside McDonald’s drive-thru for a late-night bite.
Dean Lackland’s appearance at the outlet at Simonside, South Shields, at 10.45pm on Saturday, June 14, so worried staff they phoned police.
They first allowed Lackland, 32, of Landseer Gardens, Whiteleas, to order his food and directed him to wait for it in a parking bay, a court heard.
He was sitting in his VW Tiguan, with the key in the ignition, when police arrived and ordered he take a drugs swipe test, prosecutor Keith Laidlaw said.
It gave a positive reading for cocaine, and Lackland was arrested, with a blood test taken at a police station proving his guilt.
At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, he admitted a charge of drug driving and was banned from the roads for 12 months.
Mr Laidlaw said: “Officers received a call from staff at a McDonald’s restaurant about their concerns about a driver who had ordered food at the drive-thru.
“They attended and located a silver VW Tiguan parked in bay 1. My understanding is that staff had told the defendant to go and wait in the bay.
“He was in the bay and his ignition was activated. He was arrested and cautioned for drug driving. A roadside drug test was positive.”
Jobless Lackland gave a reading in blood for cocaine breakdown product BZE of greater than 800mcg. The legal limit is 50mcg.
The court heard he has no previous driving convictions.
David Forrester, defending, “There’s not much to add. There’s no evidence of bad driving and there was just one drug in his system.
“The fact is that it was BZE rather than cocaine and would appear to have been in his system for some time as it’s the breakdown.
“He didn’t realise that he was in the state that he was. He had gone to McDonald’s for something to eat, so he’s clearly not very careful about the things he puts in his body.”
Magistrates also fined Lackland £120 and ordered him to pay £85 court costs and a £48 victim surcharge.