A FORMER sports coach has been banned from the roads after taking a mystery substance which turned out to be cocaine.

Justin Simmonds admitted one count of driving while over the drug limit when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford in January.

Police stopped a grey Vauxhall Meriva being driven by Simmonds in Leominster's South Street at 10.30am on September 19, prosecutor Mark Hambling said.

"They believed he may have drugs in his system and a drug test was positive," Mr Hambling said.

An evidential blood test revealed Simmonds had 152 microgrammes of class A controlled drug cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50 microgrammes.

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Charlotte Gregory, for Simmonds, said the 40-year-old had taken a substance after a family argument the day before.

"He took the decision to mull things over and remembered that earlier in the year he had been given a substance," Miss Gregory said.

Despite Simmonds not being entirely sure what the substance was, the court heard, he decided to take it.

"This did nothing for him, but he was very tired and went to bed," Miss Gregory said.

Simmonds had then decided to go out the next morning and was pulled over due to a broken light on his car.

"He said he felt fine and had not considered that the substance might be in his system," Miss Gregory said, telling the court that Simmonds is scared of needles but had agreed to give a blood sample to police.

The court heard Simmonds has had a tough time recently, having lost his job as a sports coach during Covid.

"He had been trying to run a cleaning business but this was not successful as it was costing him more than what was coming in," Miss Gregory said.

Simmonds, who is of Noble Court in Knighton, was fined £100 and disqualified from driving for 12 months. He must also pay costs of £75 and a £40 victim surcharge.

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