A DRIVER has claimed he was spiked after he was caught behind the wheel while over the drug limit.

Robbie David Jones admitted the offence when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford on January 6.

The 25-year-old had been driving a Seat Ibiza on Commercial Road in Hereford at 2.30am on July 26 when he was stopped by police who had spotted he had a defective light, prosecutor MArk Hambling said.

Jones was arrested after failing a roadside drug test and was taken into custody, where an evidential blood test revealed he had 57 microgrammes of cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine in 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 50.

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Chris Read, for Jones, said he had only been marginally over the limit when he was stopped, and that he could not explain how he had come to have cocaine in his system.

"He says he does not know how it got there," Mr Read said.

"He had been out with friends and believes he was spiked, but he cannot prove that. He says he does not use cocaine and never has, but he accepts the law."

The court heard Jones had lost his job after informing his employer of his arrest, and is currently living with and being supported by his parents while looking for work.

Jones, of Much Birch, Herefordshire, was disqualified from driving for 12 months and fined £120. He must also pay costs of £135 and a £34 victim surcharge.