A man who drove under the influence of drugs twice in three days has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Jake Douglas Rhodes had cannabis in his system the first time, then cannabis and benzoylecgonine, a derivative of cocaine, on the second occasion.
Magistrates also banned the 26-year-old from driving for three years with an order to take an extended test at the end of the ban.
He was described as crossing double white lines on more than one occasion as he headed towards Peel.
Police stopped him and reported a smell of cannabis, and that Rhodes, who lives at Crosby Terrace in Douglas, had red, glazed eyes and small pupils.
A drug wipe test proved positive for cannabis.
A blood sample taken at police headquarters later produced a result of 2.4.
The legal limit is two.
On December 19, officers came across Rhodes in the same vehicle, parked outside the Co-op in Crosby.
A smell of cannabis was again said to be present and he told police he had smoked it the day before.
A drug wipe test proved positive for cannabis and benzoylecgonine.
Blood was taken which later produced results of 2.1 for cannabis, and 189 for benzoylecgonine, for which the limit is 50.
The court heard that, on December 22, Rhodes was fined £1,000 and banned from driving for two years, after admitting driving while under the influence of cannabis on September 3.
Defence advocate Paul Rodgers said of the latest offences, that the readings for the cannabis were extremely low and only fractionally above the legal limit.
Mr Rodgers said that, although his client was on police bail when he was arrested the second time, on December 19, he still didn’t know what the reading was going to be for his December 16 arrest, as the blood samples were sent to the UK for testing.
The advocate pointed out that it is not the same as drink-driving where you instantly know the result.
However, Mr Rodgers said that Rhodes admitted that he had taken cannabis and cocaine on December 16 after being released by the police, but he had thought the drugs would be out of his system by December 19 when he drove again.
‘Mr Rhodes has already been penalised by the loss of his licence as he isn’t able to perform part of his job which has resulted in a pay decrease,’ said the advocate.
Magistrates ordered Rhodes to do 100 hours unpaid work in the next 12 months and put him on probation for one year.
His new three-year driving ban will run concurrently to the two-year ban issued previously.
He must also pay £250 prosecution costs.