Ian Smith, 59, of Havenhand Way, Mitchell, in Bathurst Court for driving with drugs in his blood

Ian Smith, 59, of Havenhand Way, Mitchell, was convicted in Bathurst Local Court on May 31, 2023 of driving with an illicit drug present in his blood.

According to police documents before the court, Smith was in the driver's seat of a blue Mazda sedan at about 5.10pm on December 16, 2022 when he was stopped by police on Havannah Street.

Police asked Smith for his licence, before he was given an oral drug fluid test.

After he gave a positive reading for cannabis, Smith was arrested and taken to Bathurst Police Station.

A second test for drugs revealed Smith had cannabis and methamphetamine in his system, which was later confirmed by forensic analysis, according to the police documents.

Legal Aid solicitor Simone Thackray told the court her client had "positives on the horizon" after he experienced a period of homelessness and was getting treatment for his drug use.

"He was just driving to the shops, he didn't think he had drugs in his system," Ms Thackray said.

Magistrate C Longley said in response that "the whole idea of police doing random testing is to stop people taking drugs full stop".

Smith was fined $400 and disqualified from driving for six months.

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