A DAD-of-one caught 16 times over the drug driving limit for cocaine derivative benzoylecgonine had one of the highest blood test readings Swindon magistrates had ever seen.

Chairman of the bench Natalie O’Connell told Christopher Noble, also over the ketamine limit, he was lucky not to have injured anyone on the night he was stopped by police.

The 31-year-old, of no fixed address, was handed a 20-month driving ban and fined £120 after he pleaded guilty to three counts of drug driving in Trowbridge in March.

Prosecuting, Michelle Hewitt said police had been on patrol through the town centre when they spotted Noble’s car shortly before midnight.

“He had been driving in their opinion too fast for the road conditions,” she said. Stopped by police, Noble admitted to smoking a joint earlier In the day. A drug wipe test flagged him as having taken cocaine.

Blood tests at the police station showed he had the equivalent of 800 microgrammes of benzoylecgonine, a substance created when cocaine is broken down in the body, in a litre of blood. The limit is 50 microgrammes.

He had 88 microgrammes of horse tranquiliser ketamine in his system, a substance with a legal drug drive limit of 20 – as well as 37 microgrammes of cocaine, where the limit is 10.

Dad-of-one Noble, who was unrepresented and appeared over video link from Melksham police station, said little in his defence.

“I have got nothing to add,” he told magistrates. Referring to his decision not to take up the offer of a duty solicitor, Noble added; “I broke the law, so no solicitor.”

The court heard he had to commute between Trowbridge and Bradford-on-Avon. A driving ban would make that commute harder, but he said his job as a trainee stores manager was safe.

Sentencing him, chairman of the bench Natalie O’Connell said: “The levels in your system were extremely high. You were arrested because on your standards of driving you were lucky you didn’t injure yourself or someone else.

“That’s been by far one of the highest the readings we’ve ever seen.”

Hearing he had a young daughter, who does not live with him, Ms O’Connell added: “You’ve got responsibilities, don’t you?

“You and only you can make a change.”