A FORMER parish council chairman has been given a second suspended sentence and a four year driving ban for two counts of drug driving following a crash at Ilminster where his passenger had to be cut free from the vehicle.

Christian George Guppy had ketamine and cannabis in his system when he lost control of his car in Ashwell, and when police arrived at the scene they found him dazed and confused and noted he was unable to walk in a straight line.

They also found a wrap of white powder which was later confirmed to be ketamine, and when a blood sample was taken it proved positive for ketamine and cannabis.

At the time of the offence the defendant was on bail for previous matters of dangerous driving and possession of drugs for which he was sentenced to a 12 month suspended prison sentence at Taunton Crown Court last year.

The case forced the defendant to quit his position as chairman of Horton Parish Council in September after he faced calls from members of the public to stand down at a meeting of the full council.

When he appeared in the dock before District Judge David Taylor, sitting at Yeovil, he was told that if the judge at the crown court had been made aware of these latest offences then Guppy would have come “perilously close” to being sent straight behind bars.

Guppy, 33, of Goose Lane, Broadway, pleaded guilty to driving a Ford Fiesta on the B3168 at Ashwell on June 8 when the proportion of Ketamine in his blood, namely 192mcg per litre of blood exceeded the specified limit.

He also admitted a similar offence involving a quantity of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol which was found to be 6.9mcg in his blood which exceeded the limit.

He also admitted a further allegation that he was in possession of 0.032g of Ketamine.

Prosecutor Christine Hart said that on the day in question Guppy crashed his vehicle off the road at Ashwell near Ilminster at 10.30pm while he had a front seat passenger.

“The defendant managed to get out but his passenger was trapped, and when police arrived and spoke to him he appeared dazed and confused, was unable to walk in a straight line and also smelt of cannabis and alcohol,” she said.

“A drugs test indicated cannabis in his system and when Guppy was searched he was found in possession of a paper wrap which contained white powder which proved to be 0.032g of ketamine.

“Blood samples were then taken which were later found to be over the limit for both cannabis and ketamine.”

Miss Hart said that Guppy was last before Taunton Crown Court in October 2017 for dangerous driving and possession of cannabis and he was made subject to a 12 month suspended prison sentence along with associated requirements.

He had also been disqualified from driving on three previous occasions.

Defending solicitor Greg Peters said that although these offences occurred in June it took until November 20 for them to be charged after Guppy was on bail for the previous dangerous driving offence.

“I am delighted to say that this seems to be a success story in that my client has turned his life around and has moved address to remove himself from temptation,” he said.

“He didn’t want to mix with the people he was associating with when using drugs and has now been clean from substances since September 19 when he suffered a nasty attack where he was beaten up and left for dead.

“He lost a year of his memory but carried on and has now sought counselling to address that and other issues.

“He accepts his record for drug driving is horrendous but is now fully engaging with the Probation Service although he has a suspended sentence hanging over him for 18 months.

In sentencing Guppy, District Judge Taylor told him that he could not understand why these matters were not dealt with sooner, but said they had occurred while he was on bail to the crown court for a very similar case.

“You were driving while having consumed drugs, which was clearly dangerous, and had the crown court judge been aware of these matters it would have caused him even more concern about the danger you posed other road users and you could have had no complaint that there were no grounds to suspend your sentence,” he said.

“It would be wrong for me to do something to disturb the order of the crown court and I am pleased to hear that you are working well with Probation. However you came perilously close to him taking a different view.

“You were involved in the accident which caused injury to your passenger and the fact that you were dazed, confused and unsteady speaks volumes about the danger you posed to other innocent road users.”

He sentenced Guppy to four months in prison, suspended for 15 months, to run alongside his current suspended sentence.

During that time he was ordered to carry out an extra 80 hours unpaid work, consecutive to the 100 hours he currently had, and a destruction order was also made for the ketamine.

He also imposed a four year driving disqualification and ordered that Guppy must take an extended retest after the end of the ban before he is allowed back on the roads.

Costs of £85 and a £115 victim surcharge were also imposed.