A Lifford man has been disqualified from driving for a drug-driving offence.
Derek Porter was before Letterkenny District Court in connection with the incident on February 17, 2020.
At 2.45pm on the day in question, Gardai were conducting a speed check at St Johnston when a vehicle, driven by Porter, passed at excess speed.
A subsequent test confirmed the presence of cocaine in Porter’s system. A blood test showed 180.6ng of cocaine per ml of blood.
“It wasn’t a particularly high reading,” Porter’s solicitor, Mr Frank Dorrian said, adding that his client said the positive test was as a result of ‘previous day consumption’.
Mr Dorrian said the offence that was alleged occurred in February 2020 and a summons was issued for court in April 2022.
“In April 2021, he pleaded guilty to a drug offence that was associated and was entitled to believe that the matter had gone away,” the solicitor said.
Mr Dorrian said there was a lapse in the time of the offence and the return-to-court date due to the onset of Covid-10. “That would count for some, but not all of the time, but then there was a backlog polluting the air.”
Porter, a 42-year-old of Rossgier, was convicted by Judge Éiteáin Cunningham. Judge Cunningham disqualified Porter for one year and fined him €100.
Lifford driver admitted taking cocaine was last modified: September 10th, 2023 by