Littlehampton taxi driver banned from driving for being ten times over the drug-drive limit

A taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from driving for being ten times over the drug-drive limit, according to police.
A taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from drivingA taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from driving
A taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from driving

Nicholas Welch, 54, a taxi driver, of Arundel Road, Littlehampton, was arrested in East Street, Littlehampton, on December 23, and charged with driving with 520mcg of benzoylecgonine - what cocaine turns into in your body - per litre of blood in his system, possession of cocaine, driving without insurance and plying for hire when the carriage was not licensed.

At Worthing Magistrates’ Court on 31 May, he was sentenced to a two-year conditional discharge and disqualified from driving for 30 months. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

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240 motorists were arrested in Sussex as part of Surrey Police and Sussex Police’s Christmas crackdown on drink and drug-drivers, which ran from December 1 to January 1.

A taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from drivingA taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from driving
A taxi driver from Littlehampton has been banned from driving

Of those, 126 have since been convicted in court. The remaining have either been charged, released under investigation or released without charge, police said.

Among those was Lloyd Harper, 29, unemployed, of Bayford Road, Littlehampton, who was arrested in Arundel Road, Worthing, on 14 December and charged with driving with 7mcg of cannabis per litre of blood in his system.

At Crawley Magistrates’ Court on 17 June, he was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He was also ordered to pay a £200 fine, £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Another was a drug-driver from East Preston who was spotted with a knife in his trousers in a corner shop on New Year's Eve.