Published date: 20 February 2017 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporter
Police threatened to tazer a drug driver in a Flintshire village.
An officer blocked the car of Anthony Knight in a cul-de-sac but he got out of the car holding the key fob in his hand with the key sticking out between his fingers.
The officer was a trained tazer user and put the red dot on the defendant – who at that point dropped the keys, Flintshire Magistrates Court was told.
Knight, 25, at the time of Penyffordd but now of Llys Degwm in Treuddyn near Mold, admitted driving with two drugs in his blood and a driving licence offence.
He was banned from driving for 18 months, fined £120 with £85 costs and a £30 surcharge.
His lawyer Stephen Alis said his client was not being aggressive at the scene but had co-operated with the police.
John Wylde, prosecuting, said a silver VW Golf had a police ‘marker’ on it because of concerns over who drove it, the manner in which it was driven and whether it was insured.
Police were called to Hazel Drive in Penyffordd, followed the car into the cul-de-sac and parked nose to nose with it as it reversed to the bottom of the road.
The Golf was moving backwards and forwards as if it was trying to manoeuvre around it.
The officer took the view that the car was trying to leave the area and to prevent that happening, actually pushed the car back towards the kerb with the police vehicle.
Mr Wylde said the Golf drove forwards again and was pushed back a second time.
The driver got out and the officer saw him hold the key fob in his hand with a key sticking out between his fingers.
Mr Wylde said the officer put the red dot of his tazer on the defendant who, he said, sensibly dropped the key.
He was arrested and a later blood test showed he had 4.7 microgrammes of THC, a derivative of cannabis, in his blood compared with the legal limit of two.
Knight also had 170 microgrammes of BZE, a derivative of cocaine, in his blood compared with the legal limit of 50.
Mr Alis said his client was unaware that because of penalty points he had reverted to being a learner driver.
He had not used drugs for a couple of days and when police spoke to him there was no suggestion he was affected by them.
The defendant was taken to the police station and fully co-operated.
Mr Alis stressed that no other offences arose from the incident and his client did not accept that he was holding the key in such a way that it could be used as a weapon.
“He got out of the car and co-operated at the roadside,” he said.
While he was stopped because there was a so-called marker on his car by the police, that was nothing to do with his client.
The vehicle had been used by others, he explained.
There were no aggravating features in respect of his driving, said Mr Alis.
http://www.leaderlive.co.uk/news/172743/police-threatened-to-tazer-drug-driver-in-flintshire.aspx
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