An 81-year-old man is thought to be Britain’s oldest drug driver after he was caught driving home from his own birthday party whilst under the influence of cocaine.
Arthur Ball who needs hearing aids, uses two walking sticks, and has had a carer for 15 years, tested three times the limit when officers stopped his Motability car.
When quizzed the OAP, from Warrington, Cheshire, said he had not been drinking alcohol, never took drugs and claimed a fellow guest must have slipped a wrap of cocaine into his lemonade during the bash.
But bizarrely, his taxpayer-funded Motability car, a Toyota Yaris, had a police marker on it amid claims the vehicle was being used by a drug dealer.
At Warrington Magistrates Court, Ball pleaded guilty to drug driving and was fined £120 and was banned from the roads for 12 months. It is thought his carer will now drive the Toyota car.
The court heard Ball was pulled over at just after midnight on Marsh Street, Warrington, at 12.17am on June 2 – six days after his birthday.
Nigel Jones, prosecuting, said: “On the day in question police had observed the vehicle and subsequently stopped it. The defendant was asked to provide a roadside breath test and a sample for a drug wipe.
“The roadside breath test was zero, but the result for the drug test resulted in him being arrested. The blood test figures are identified in the charge.”
Blood tests showed Ball had 162 micrograms of benzoylecgonine (BZE) per litre of blood in his system. BZE is a breakdown product of cocaine and the legal limit is 50 mg.
His lawyer Mark Lever said in mitigation: “He had been out for his birthday, a late birthday celebration. He had not been drinking. He believed that what he had drunk had been contaminated by cocaine. He does not use cocaine.
“He cannot bring evidence of that so he accepts that he has committed the offence.
“He was pulled up by the police. Strangely, police have a marker on his car for a drug dealer. He is not a drug dealer. How it got there goodness knows.
“His driving was not impaired. He has not driven in an erratic manner. He would like to drive again but he accepts he is going to find it difficult over the next 12 months.”
Ball was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £48.
Sentencing Ball, JP Andrew Pope said: “Anybody found guilty or who pleads guilty to driving when they have got drugs in their system all get disqualified. It’s the law.”
Figures show that in 2023, 124 people died in crashes involving a drug-impaired driver. The DVLA data suggests drivers in their late twenties are the worst offenders, with 25 being the most common age of disqualification for drug-driving.
But in one year alone 78 drivers over 60 years old were also prosecuted for failing drugs tests, with the eldest driver banned being a 74-year-old woman.
