Newly qualified dentist who was caught smoking a joint as he drove home after the second day in his job is fined £1,269 and banned from driving for 12 months
- Young dentist Sajid Patel was pulled over for speeding in his VW Golf in Bolton
- Officers then noticed the smell of cannabis and Patel failed a roadside drug test
- The 25-year-old admitted drug driving and was handed a fine and a driving ban
- Magistrates’ Court heard he would also be dealt with by dentist regulatory board
A young dentist was caught smoking cannabis while driving home after his second day in a new job, a court heard.
Sajid Patel, 25, was initially pulled over for speeding, but officers later smelled the illicit substance coming from his VW Golf vehicle and arrested him for drug-driving.
Bolton Magistrates’ Court heard the newly qualified dentist – who earns £5,500 a month – had been up early on the day in question and had visited two sites for his employer.
But on his way home, he had stopped off to buy cannabis and lit up a joint in his car, so he could sit ‘quietly with his thoughts’ for a few minutes, the court was told.
Patel, from Bolton, Gtr Manchester, was later caught by police officers using a mobile speed camera when he drove at 40mph in a 30mph limit.
He was ordered to stop then arrested after a saliva sample taken by police at the roadside indicated a positive result for cannabis.
Sajid Patel was caught smoking cannabis while driving home after his second day in a job, a court heard. The 25-year-old was pulled over for speeding by police who gave him a drug test
Adam Bonney, prosecuting, said: ‘The officer could smell cannabis coming from the defendant and therefore required a roadside saliva sample which indicated positive for cannabis.’
The court heard that Patel, who works as a dentist in Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent, has no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to drug driving at the first opportunity.
Ms Hawkins, defending, told the court it was a ‘one-off’ incident.
She said: ‘I hope you will take it from me that his remorse is genuine, and this is a one-off incident that will not be repeated in the future.’
‘This is not something that he does on a regular basis at all.’
Ms Hawkins said that on the day he committed the offence, Patel had been feeling ‘quite stressed out because it was his second full day of fully-qualified work’.
She added: ‘He was getting up very early to drive to two sites for his employer.’
Ms Hawkins also said Patel, who is single and lives with his parents and grandmother, had the support of his family.
At Bolton Magistrates Court (pictured), Patel was handed a fine and a 12-month driving ban
She said: ‘It is a very loving and supportive family, and everyone is very shocked about what has happened.
‘He does not seek to make excuses for his behaviour.
‘It was a bright, sunny day – he decided to drive a short distance only from the car park, he had tucked himself out of the way in and that is when he came across the police officer.
‘He had driven for one to one-and-a-half miles only.
‘It was a very stupid thing to have done. He had, at the time, no idea that he was drug driving.’
She said that the court’s punishment will mean he will have to get up very early each day to catch a train to work.
She added that the £5,500 a month earning dentist will later be dealt with by his professional regulatory body.
She said: ‘It seems that this is a dreadful, stupid mistake that this young man has made. He is not going to do it again.’
Patel was fined £1,269 plus £211 in costs and charges and was banned from driving for 12 months.
Magistrate Joanne Halliday told Patel: ‘It was clearly a very foolish thing for you to do.’