A gurning delivery driver was nearly 10 times the drug-drive limit when he was caught outside Perth police station – three days after he took cocaine at a pal’s stag do.
Alexander Mordente could not control his jaw and was speaking incoherently when he was questioned by officers at a filling station next to their Barrack Street HQ.
The 32-year-old, from Dundee, was arrested and locked up overnight after testing positive for cocaine.
He appeared at Perth Sheriff Court and admitted driving a white Transit van at the Londis store at the BP filling station with drugs in his system on September 1 2020.
The father-of-one was banned from the road for a year and fined £300.
Drugs checklist
Fiscal depute Matthew Kerr told the court: “At about 6.20pm, police officers were at the filling station making inquiries to a separate matter.
“At this point, they saw the accused driving onto the site and park in a Hermes parcel pick-up spot.
“He was seen packing postal items into the van.”
Police approached Mordente to give him advice about his driving style.
“The accused’s demeanour appeared erratic,” said Mr Kerr.
“He was unable to stand still and kept fidgeting.
“The accused was also unsteady on his feet and was speaking at an extremely fast pace.
“It wasn’t clear what he was saying.”
Mr Kerr added: “His pupils were narrow and he could not control the movement of his jaw.
“The police officers believed the accused may be under the influence of drugs.”
Their theory was confirmed by a roadside drugs test, which showed Mordente had 479 mics of cocaine-derivative benzoylecgonine in his blood.
The legal limit is 50 mics.
“The accused was arrested and taken into custody,” the fiscal depute said.
Admitting taking cocaine
Solicitor Hannah Fairbrother, defending, said: “He attributes the level of drugs in his system from being on a stag do at the weekend.
“He fully accepts that he had been taking cocaine at this event but he thought it would be well out of his system by the time he was driving.”
The court heard the father-of-one has since been diagnosed with ADHD.
Sheriff Alison Michie told Mordente, of Frederick Street: “You have pled guilty to driving with a very high reading of drugs in your system.”
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If drugs are illegal, why are there legal limits for drug-driving?
