A DRUG driver caught more than eight times the legal limit for cannabis was handed a suspended prison sentence and disqualified for four years.

Leighton Nurton, 22, of Darent Close, Bettws, Newport, was stopped by police on Ebenezer Drive in the Rogerstone area of the city in a Volvo S40.

Cwmbran Magistrates' Court heard this was his third similar offence in the space of three and a half years.

Nurton gave a reading of 17.5 micrograms of cannabis derivative delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood.

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The legal limit is two micrograms per litre of blood.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the offence which was committed on November 24, 2020.

Nurton was jailed for 10 weeks, suspended for 12 months.

He was made the subject of an eight-week electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 7am.

Nurton must complete a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement and pay £213 in costs and a surcharge.