A SCAFFOLDER has been fined and banned from driving after being caught with cannabis.

Marc McGivern, of Montgomerie Street in Ardrossan, appeared at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on July 14 for sentencing after admitting two charges.

The 31-year-old was found in possession of a controlled drug at Riverway in Irvine late last year. Police caught him behind the wheel of a car when the proportion of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, in his blood was 10 microgrammes per litre of blood, five times the limit of two mcg/litre.

The court heard that McGivern was found with 6.4 grams of the class B drug when police stopped him for a routine check at around 7.45pm on November 2. Officers noticed a smell of cannabis and searched the vehicle before recovering the drugs from the driver’s footwell.

A roadside drug test proved positive and McGivern was arrested.

Neil McPherson, defending, said his client described himself as a “recreational drug user”.

Sheriff Alistair Watson told McGivern: “How anyone can use as much cannabis as you and work as a scaffolder at heights I do not know, but that is a matter for you.”

McGivern was disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 16 months and fined £520, payable at a rate of £20 per week.

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