Kirkby teen was high on drugs as he drove new car home

A Kirkby teen who smoked cannabis before driving home in a car he had just bought for £200 to pass his test has been slapped with a fine and a driving ban.
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Jordan Starbuck took a corner on Clumber Street in his Peugeot 206 too quickly and police officers followed him before pulling his car over on Ashwood Avenue, at 11.30pm, on July 25, last year.

Officers smelled the drug as they approached him and Starbuck failed a roadside drug test. A subsequent test revealed he had 10 mcgs of the drug in one litre of his blood when the specified limit is two mcgs.

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Donna Pursglove, mitigating, said Starbuck lost his good character after a conviction for possession of drugs with intent to supply, two weeks ago, in Mansfield, when he received a suspended sentence.

Nottingham Magistrates' Court.Nottingham Magistrates' Court.
Nottingham Magistrates' Court.

She said he bought the car to take his driving test, but ‘very foolishly"’ decided to drive it home after smoking some of the Class B drug.

"He didn't try to hide anything," she said. "He was fully compliant."

Ms Pursglove said that at the time, he was ‘suffering quite significantly’, having gone through the breakdown of a relationship at the very start of lockdown.

He is now actively seeking work as a labourer, she added.

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Starbuck, 19, of Spruce Grove, Kirkby, admitted drug driving and driving without insurance or a licence when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Magistrates banned him from driving for 12 months and fined him £120, with £85 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

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