A DRIVER has been banned from the roads for a year after he was found more than double the drug-drive limit.

Connor Appleton, 21, of Montagu Street, pleaded guilty to having 5.1mg of cannabis in a litre of his blood when he was behind the wheel of a 15-plate Ford Fiesta on May 19.

Magistrates sitting in Swindon fined him £250, ordered he pay a £30 victim surcharge and imposed £85 of court costs.

He was further banned from driving for 12 months.

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A man has been fined after he was found in possession of cannabis.

John Ritchie, 39, of Thresher Drive, pleaded guilty to the offence when he came before the bench sitting at Swindon Magistrates' Court.

The court heard that on April 25 he was found to have 48.6grams of cannabis on his person.

The magistrates fined him £80 and ordered he pay £85 court costs and a £30 victim surcharge. They also ordered the drugs be destroyed.

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A motorist has been banned from driving for almost two years after he was caught over the drug-drive limit on the M4.

Aaron Alaka-Whyte, 23, of Garratt Lane, Wandsworth, pleaded guilty to driving a BMW 116 on the M4 near Wroughton on May 11 while under the influcence of cannabis. Officers also found further cannabis on his person when he was stopped.

Magistrates fined him a total of £170 and ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £30 and Crown Prosecution Service costs of £85.

He was also banned from driving for 20 months.

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A man has been banned from driving for two years after he was found to be more than double the drink-drive limit.

Gary Bond, of Ermin Street, Stratton St Margaret, must also carry out 100 hours of unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to the offence dating from May 12.

Magistrates sitting in Swindon were told how 47-year-old Bond was found behind the wheel of a 56-plate Mercedes Vito Van on Ocotal Way.

When stopped by police he was found to have 77mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath. The legal driving limit is 35mg.

In addition to his two-year-driving ban - which will be reduced by 24 weeks if he successfully completes a drink drivers' awareness course, and the unpaid work - Bond must also pay £85 Crown Prosecution Service costs and an £85 victim surcharge.

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Martin Booth, 44, who assaulted two men with a paving slab, has been spared an immediate jail term.

Magistrates sitting in Swindon heard that Booth, of Whitworth Road, had assaulted two men with a paving slab on July 1 and then assaulted a police officer while trying to resist arrest. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of causing harassment to a police officer on the previous day.

In addition to his 20 week sentence, suspended for 18 months, magistrates ordered he complete an alcohol treatment programme and complete 20 rehabilitation activity days. He must also pay £85 Crown Prosecution Service costs and a £115 victim surcharge.

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Pleading guilty to stealing more than £30-worth of cosmetics and meat fromTesco a woman has walked free from court.

Magistrates sitting in Swindon imposed a conditional discharge on 55-year-old Immaculata Harrison of Cranmore Avenue for the offence dating from June 17.

She must also pay £85 Crown Prosecution Service costs and a £20 victim surcharge.