A MAN who was caught with cannabis and didn’t realise he was driving while disqualified has been fined £600 and banned from the road.

James Robert Wood, of Broomfield Drive in Alderholt, appeared at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on Friday (July 22) and admitted charges of cannabis possession, driving while disqualified on the A338 and without insurance.

The offences took place in Downton on July 6 of this year.

The court heard that the 31-year-old, who was driving a BMW, was stopped by police who wanted to speak to him about an unrelated incident, which turned out to have nothing to do with him.

Prosecutor Kate Prince said officers carried out a check on his documents and discovered he was disqualified from driving and had no vehicle insurance. A small amount of herbal cannabis was found in the console of the car.

The court heard Wood had previously been disqualified from driving because of the totting up process on May, which had been done in his absence.

Wood said that he had just purchased the BMW and had been unsure whether he had been disqualified.

Bob Scott, defending, told the court the 31-year-old “pleaded guilty at the first possible opportunity” and that he should be given “full credit” for his early guilty pleas.

He added that the cannabis was for the defendant’s personal use and that he had fallen out with parents where he had previously been living and as a result was not receiving any mail.

Mr Scott said Wood was “not aware of the totting up process going on against him” but accepted he was driving while disqualified.

Mr Scott said the Tarmac worker and father had had a “pretty tough time” and fallen out with his parents during a period of his imprisonment and was living with a friend in Downton. He had also not seen his children in a number of months.

He relapsed using drugs to “try and relieve” the situation, Mr Scott added, who said the defendant sought help from his GP and had stopped using drugs.

Wood was disqualified from driving for six months and fined £300 for the offence of driving while disqualified and for having no insurance was fined an additional £300. There was no separate penalty for the possession offence but the court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.

On top of the fine Wood was also ordered to pay a surcharge of £120 and a contribution to court costs £40 – bringing the total to £760.