Drug-driver lost control of car and crashed near Carlisle

A young motorist who lost control of his car and crashed while over the legal drug-drive limit has lost his licence for a year.

Police attended a one-vehicle collision outside a property to the south west of Dalston, near Carlisle, just before 9pm on 24 June.

The car was a blue Ford Fiesta registered to 20-year-old William Sleightholm, who identified himself as the driver at the time.

Prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle Magistrates’ Court: “He stated he had been travelling too fast, lost control and collided with a wall.”

This had caused damage to the vehicle.

A drugs wipe indicated the presence of cannabis and a sample of blood was taken after Sleightholm was taken to custody.

This was analysed and showed he was over the legal limit for a psychoactive compound of the class B illegal substance.

Sleightholm said he had consumed cannabis two to three days before the incident, and stated he was unfamiliar with the stretch of road on which the crash occurred.

In court, he admitted a drug-driving charge, telling magistrates he was currently seeking work and that he and his partner were in receipt of benefits.

A man of previous good character, Sleightholm, of Boundary Road, Carlisle, was fined £120 for the offence, must also pay costs and was banned from driving for 12 months.