A motorist who tested positive for cannabis after being pulled over claimed he must have had it in his system because his son had been smoking it in his car.

Jason Gilroy was stopped by police over an unrelated matter while driving his black Range Rover Evoque in Dargate, near Faversham, and asked to take a roadside saliva test.

The 53-year-old tested positive for THC, a constituent of cannabis.

A subsequent blood test gave a reading of 4.8 microgrammes of THC per litre of blood, when the legal limit is 2.

Gilroy, of Harrington Close, Herne Bay, admitted drug-driving when he appeared before magistrates in Maidstone on February 21.

Emily Wiles, prosecuting, said Gilroy was pulled over at Dargate Services on October 10 with a passenger in the vehicle, and was asked to give a saliva specimen which tested positive for cannabis.

The court heard Gilroy had been running a Tapas bar in Spain until Covid hit, but had since returned to Britain and was living at his son’s address.

Gilroy claimed he was not a cannabis user, but his son was.

Magistrates were told he had collected his son from hospital after he had been injured, and he had been self-medicating with the drug in the vehicle while Gilroy was driving.

The bench was also told unemployed Gilroy had since sold his vehicle as he needed the money.

He was banned from driving for a year, fined £120 and told to pay a victim surcharge of £48.