A mother caught drug driving was given a fine of just £120 after claiming smoking cannabis helped her cope with her ‘challenging’ daughter.
Alex Rankin tested almost twice the drug-driving limit after her Ford Fiesta was seen running a red light by a police patrol.
The 27-year-old later claimed she used cannabis as a ‘coping mechanism’ because her six-year-old child had ADHD as well as pathological demand avoidance, a condition associated with autism.
Rankin also said she had not been concentrating on the road properly as she had just had an argument with her mother. She pleaded guilty to drug driving and admitted smoking cannabis in the run-up to the incident on New Year’s Eve last year but claimed she did not realise it would still be in her system.
Tests showed she had 3.4 micrograms of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol – the active ingredient in cannabis – per litre of blood in her system, the legal limit being 2mcg/l. Rankin, from Liverpool, was also banned from driving for 15 months.
Angela Conlan, prosecuting at Sefton Magistrates’ Court, said Rankin received a caution in 2017 for possession of drugs.
Lee Arnold, defending, said the single mother has ‘a very challenging’ life. District Judge Timothy Boswell told Rankin: ‘I have been told you have not smoked cannabis since and it is not something you have a problem with. I hope that’s correct.’