Damien Christopher Booth, 22, of Vale Road, Perthville, appeared before Bathurst Local Court charged with driving with an illicit drug present in his blood, and driving a class A motor vehicle and exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 kilometres an hour (estimate).

On the first matter he was convicted, fined $440 and disqualified from driving for six months.

On the speeding charge he was convicted and fined $220.

Police facts told how police observed Booth’s red Mazda well left of the white fog line of a left-hand bend it was travelling around on the Vale Road on July 25 last year.

The vehicle also appeared to be travelling in excess of the 100km/hr speed limit by an estimated 30-40km/hr.

Police did a U-turn and attempted to catch up with the car at a speed of no less than 130km/hr.

A short time later, police regained sight of the car through a winding section of the road, but lost sight of the vehicle as it entered Perthville.

As police passed the service station, they noticed a large amount of dust and the brake lights of the vehicle going behind the service station.

Police turned around and went to the driveway. They found the car parked and the lights turned off. Police saw the accused sitting in the driver’s seat.

Booth was arrested and police conducted an electronically recorded roadside video interview where the accused made full admissions to driving to at least 130km/hr knowing the posted speed limits were 100km and 50km/hr.

He made further admissions of trying to avoid police.

Police undertook a roadside breath test, which produced a negative result. A drug test returned a positive result to cannabis and Booth told police he had smoked a joint after finishing work.

A second drug test returned a positive result, as did a sample sent for analysis by police.