By James Simons-
A motorist who lost three close members of his family has been banned for a year after being caught driving under the influence of cannabis.
Magistrates at Carlisle’s Rickergate court heard police arrested 66-year-old Johann Moller after becoming concerned about his driving in Penrith on June 20l6.
Moller was arrested by cops after police smelt cannabis in his car and searched the vehicle, eventually discovering the class B drug. A subsequent blood test revealed he was four times over the legal cannabis limit for driving.
His lawyer, Chris Toms, told the court that the defendant had been grieving with the loss of his brother, wife, and sister in law for the past 18 months. Moller wept as he sat in the dock, the prospect of the ban he eventually received starring him in the face.
“He’d nursed his wife through her illness,” Chris Toms told magistrates.
“It’s a combination of events that has left him completely shattered.
“He’s been using cannabis to cope and to keep himself together following the death of his wife, who died only a short time before this incident.”
Mr Toms sid that there was nothing exceptional in the manner of the defendant’s driving that day. Police decided to stop Moller, he was caught driving the wrong way. Moller claim his sat-nav device sent him through Penrith the wrong way- a somewhat implausible excuse which is nevertheless possible in rare circumstances. ”There was nothing erratic about his (Moller)driving, Toms told Magistrates .
“This is going to be a massive, massive, financial blow, as he is unlikely to earn the amount of money he has been earning, and his wife also had a significant income.
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“If he has to claim benefits it won’t cover his mortgage.” The consequences of breaking the law is usually not high on the mind of the offender when indulging in illegal activity. Cannabis is recreationally smoked by over 4 million Brits in Britain, but driving whilst smoking cannabis is dangerous and illegal. The risk of an accident is more than three times more likely when a driver is under the influence of a lot of cannabis, although many drivers manage to get to their destination safely when heavily under the influence.
At 66 years of age, Moller still enjoys getting high on cannabis, but should have waited to get behind closed doors where he could have smoked his head off if he so foolishly wished. Losing several members of one’s family can be very devastating and difficult to manage emotionally. In such eventualities, individuals would turn to whatever habits they are used to, usually with very limited restraint. Sorrow can be a killer, but this can be no excuse for a driver to flout the law so brazenly.
Magistrates banned Moller, Leeds, for a year and fined him £414, with a £41 victim surcharge, and £85 costs. Due to his disregard of the law, his daily affairs will now be made a lot more difficult since his mode of transport will now have to change at a much slower pace than he would normally prefer. Magistrates may have done him a favour because Johann Moller will never know if the courts have just saved him from a fatal accident that could have occurred down the life, heaping more sorrow on the other surviving members of his extended family.
At least he can now spend more time at home smoking cannabis with the curtains closed and reminiscing about his lost loved ones. The eye of media.com sends our condolences to him for the loss of his family members whom he must have loved dearly.
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