A 25-year-old drug-driver has been banned from driving for two and a half years and fined £800.

Plasterer Jordan Thomas Bayle was also fined £150 for possessing cannabis and £200 for having a vehicle in a dangerous condition.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also ordered him to take an extended test at the end of the ban.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain told the court that police were driving behind Bayle’s Ford Transit van on January 8, at 7.45pm, when they reported a smell of cannabis coming from it.

He was subsequently stopped at Manor Drive in Douglas, and when officers spoke to him, they confirmed a smell of cannabis.

A search found 0.8 grams of the drug, valued by police at £16.

Bayle, who lives at Saddle Road in Douglas, told officers he had smoked half a joint and gave them the remains of it.

A drug wipe test proved positive for the class B drug.

At police headquarters, a blood sample was taken and sent to the UK for analysis, which later produced a reading of seven.

The legal limit for cannabis is two.

The van was seized and a vehicle examined reported numerous defects, including faults with tyres, the registration plate, lights, and considerable corrosion to multiple areas.

During an interview, Bayle told police he had smoked half a cannabis cigarette on the morning of the offence, but claimed he was unaware of the van’s defects, saying it was an employer’s vehicle.

The court heard that he has previous convictions in 2017 for possessing cannabis with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.

Defence advocate Peter Taylor confirmed that the van belonged to his client’s employer and said it was due to be serviced the day after Bayle was stopped by police.

Mr Taylor said that Bayle had said he would now lose his employment as a plasterer due to having no driving licence.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also ordered him to pay £125 prosecution costs.

He will pay all amounts at a rate of £100 per month.