Woman caught drug-driving twice in 24 hours by same police officer spared jail

A woman who was caught drug-driving twice in 24 hours by the same policeman has walked free from court with a fine.

Isabelle Peck, 20, tested almost 10 times the limit for benzoylecgonine – the main metabolite left by cocaine - after she was pulled over in her Vauxhall Corsa at 7pm on April 27 in Lostock, Bolton.

Police warned her about drugs staying in her system, but she collected her vehicle the next day and was stopped again by the same officer she drove home along the A556 – this time testing 16 times the limit.

Peck, who now works as an air hostess for Jet 2, was thought to have spent a total of two nights in a police station.

She admitted two charges of driving with a proportion of a specific controlled drug above the specified limit as she appeared at Chester Magistrates’ Court.

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Peck, from Northwich, Cheshire, insisted she had taken no further cocaine since her initial arrest, but in the second instance, the benzoylecgonine was more prevalent in her blood as the cocaine left her system.

According to medical experts, cocaine or its metabolites typically can show up on a blood or saliva test for up to two days after use. It can also show in a urine test for up to three days, and in a hair test for months to years.

The legal limit for driving after cocaine use is 50mg of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood (50ug), and the maximum sentence for drug driving is six months in jail.

Representing Peck, solicitor John Farnan said: “The defendant tells me that she accepts that at the time of the first offence she had taken cocaine on a very occasional and recreational basis.

“She is absolutely very much aware that when she went to pick her car up she should have waited longer and got someone else to pick it up.

“She was not taking cocaine in the meantime. It was still in her system. The officer pulled her over while she was driving it back.”

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Mr Farnan said that as Peck had only passed her driving test in the last two years, she would have the “additional punishment” of needing to retake it once the disqualification was ended.

He added: “Since the date of the offence, she has obtained a job as cabin crew for Jet 2. They regularly drug test and she has not taken any cocaine since she started that job.”

He argued that as benzoylecgonine is a breakdown product which increased as cocaine was metabolised, it would be unfair to issue a separate penalty for the second offence.

Mr Farnan also said the DVLA may also require proof Peck is not drug dependent before returning her driving licence to her.

Magistrates banned her from driving for a minimum of 12 months. Stressing that she was not being punished for the second offence, they also ordered her to pay £157 in costs and victim surcharge.