A POWYS motorist who started smoking cannabis after several traumatic experiences has been banned from the road after admitting drug driving.

Cory Steer, from Llanymynech, was found to have 6.5 micrograms of the Class B drug in his system when police pulled him over near Four Crosses on August 15 last year – the legal amount for having cannabis in your system while driving is 2 micrograms.

Welshpool Magistrates’ Court heard last week that the 27-year-old had only taken to smoking the drug a few days before being stopped.

The court heard on Tuesday, February 21, that Steer had suffered several personal tragedies in 2022, including losing a close childhood friend and the loss of his grandmother who had raised him.

In October last year Steer also lost his sister Rebecca, who died in hospital after being hit by a car outside a takeaway in Oswestry in the early hours of Sunday, October 9, following a night out.

In November last year, Stephen McHugh, 27, from Park Hall, near Oswestry, denied her murder, as well as a second charge of causing grievous bodily harm against another victim.

At last Tuesday’s hearing in Welshpool, Steer, of Station Road, Llanymynech, admitted drug driving.

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Prosecutor Helen Tench said Steer was driving a Volkswagen Golf on the B4393 near Four Crosses when police stopped him just after 5pm, and admitted having smoked a joint the night before.”

She said Steer had no previous convictions.

Rob Hanratty, acting for Steer, said: “He is not an habitual villain, he had the misfortune of being stopped.

“The defendant will tell you he’s not even an habitual user of cannabis.

"He has been suffering from such trauma that someone suggested the only way he’d get some sleep is by smoking cannabis.

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“He had only been smoking a few days before he was stopped. It is very unfortunate.

“He apologises profusely. He has been through the mill.”

Magistrates banned Steer from driving for 12 months. He was also fined £40 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £16 surcharge.