Drug-driver caught doing 'doughnuts' in BMW in Sunderland car park

A Sunderland demolition worker was caught driving while drugged up on cannabis after performing ‘doughnuts’ in a car park.
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Jed Elliot, 20, of Raine Grove, Hendon, has now been banned from getting behind the wheel for 18 months by magistrates in South Tyneside. Elliot was spotted performing stunt doughnuts in his BMW at Herrington Country Park by a member of the public who tipped off police.

Prosecutor Stephanie Cook said they arrived at 10pm on Saturday, July 30, adding: “A white BMW was in the overspill car park, doing doughnuts. Officers watched as the vehicle left through the gate.

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“It was subsequently stopped on the A183 Chester Road and the driver was spoken to. They noticed his speech was slurred and he had large pupils, and there was a smell of cannabis coming from him.”

The case was heard at South Tyneside Magistrates Court.The case was heard at South Tyneside Magistrates Court.
The case was heard at South Tyneside Magistrates Court.

Elliot was drug tested and gave a reading in blood for cannabis derivative THC of not less than 3.8mcg against a legal limit of 2mcg. He pleaded guilty to a charge of drug driving.

Harry Burn, defending, said: “There’s no indication that he was doing anything other than doughnuts, it’s what young people do. He was stopped by police officers and told them he had smoked cannabis bush the previous day.

“It’s not that he was smoking it in the car, it had stayed in his system. He was working full-time for a demolition company, hence he had a nice car. His employer said that if he was going to get a disqualification, he couldn’t give him anymore work.”

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Magistrates also fined Elliot £140, with £85 court costs and a £56 victim surcharge.

David Johnson, chair of the bench, told him: “There are two factors that we’re taking into account which aggravate this offence. 3.8mcg on a limit of 2mcg is virtually twice the limit, and the offence happened in a public area.”