AN 18-YEAR-old who was caught three times by police drug driving will now have to undergo weekly drug testing.

Michael Davies of Green Lane, Leominster pleaded guilty to three counts of driving a car with cannabis in his system, one count of possessing cannabis and one count of driving with benzoylecgonine (cocaine) in his system.

Lesley Ashton, prosecuting at Herefordshire Magistrates Court, said he was first stopped by police on March 12 just after 10.15pm when Davies failed to give way at a roundabout in Leominster town centre.

He was stopped in Westfield Walk and when officers could smell cannabis, he was tested and was found to have 5.9mg of Delta-9-THC (cannabis) in his system - the legal limit is 2mg.

On March 18 at 5.45pm an unmarked police car spotted a group of young men trying to light a match on the back of a car in Cranes Lane.

Officers stopped to speak to them and could smell cannabis- a small wrap of cannabis was found in Davies' vehicle and the defendant admitted it belonged to him.

He also said he had just driven there- a drugs test revealed he had 4.4mg of Delta-9-THC in his system.

On April 5 he was stopped by police in Mill Street and asked to provide a roadside test- he tested positive for Delta-9-THC with 2.9mg in his system and positive for benzoylecgonine (cocaine) with 132mg in his system- the legal limit is 50mg.

Philip Cornell, mitigating, said: "We have a very young man here who clearly has a cannabis habit."

Davies was given a 12-month community order with a drug rehabilitation requirement with weekly drugs testing for six months and a five-day rehabilitation activity requirement and unpaid work for 40 hours. He was disqualified from driving for 18 months.