Stansted: Drug-driver sniffed out by keen-nosed police officer

Thanks to the keen nose of one of our rural engagement officers, a drug-driver has been disqualified from driving.

Sergeant Paul Brady was overtaken by a car driven by Harry Timms-Mitchell on the A120 near Stansted Airport on 23 November 2022.

Sergeant Brady immediately noticed an ‘extremely strong’ smell of cannabis coming from the car and pulled him over.

Timms-Mitchell tested positive for cannabis at the roadside and was arrested. A blood sample taken in custody was later found to contain 4.9 microgrammes of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) per litre of blood. The legal limit is two microgrammes*.

Timms-Mitchell missed the flight he was hoping to catch.

At Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on 30 May, Timms-Mitchell, of Mill Road Drive, Purdis Farm, Ipswich, admitted driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.

He has now been disqualified from driving for 12 months, fined £500 and ordered to pay £105 costs and a £200 victim surcharge.

“Drugs can stay in your system for quite some time after you have taken them.
“And driving with any amount of drugs in your system can be very dangerous, for you, your passengers and other road-users.
“You are at greater risk of causing a collision because drugs can delay your reactions, affecting your ability to judge speed and distance and so you may not brake in time if you need to.
“And they create a false confidence so, even if you think you are safe to drive, you are not.
“If convicted of drug-driving you may lose your licence and that could cost you your job.”
Sergeant Paul Brady, of our Rural Engagement Team

Drug-driving, along with drink-driving, is a Fatal Four offence – speeding, using a mobile phone while driving and not wearing a seatbelt are the others.

Our officers are committed to keeping Essex roads safe for all road-users – in support of Vision Zero, the ambition to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on Essex roads by 2040.

• Find out more about driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs

 

*  For illegal drugs, the limits set are extremely low. They aren't zero to rule out any accidental exposure, eg from passive smoking.

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