Chesterfield pot smoker rear-ended another driver at traffic lights

Jamie Rechert, 21, ploughed into the back of another car on Lordsmill Street in November last year.

Prosecutor Lee Shepherd told Chesterfield Magistrates Court paramedics at the scene called police after noticing a “strong smell of cannabis” while attending to both drivers.

Rechert later failed a roadside swab for the drug and gave a reading of seven micrograms per litre of blood - more than three times over the limit.

However, Rechert's solicitor Kate Hempstock told the court her client claimed the other driver had stopped on a green light.

She described how Rechert had been “self-medicating” for depression with cannabis but was now seeking help with a counsellor.

Rechert, of Foxbrook Drive, admitted drug driving.

He was fined £200, made to pay a £34 victim surcharge, £85 court costs and banned from driving for a year.

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