LETTING mates share a bong is what a 52-year-old man has said could be to blame for one of his two positive drug readings.
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Rodney Edward Simpson - also known as Rodney James Paterson - of Forrest Place, Bathurst pleaded guilty in Bathurst Local Court on March 20, 2024 to two counts of driving with drugs in his system.
Court documents state police saw a silver Mitsubishi Magna being driven around Windradyne about 3.30am on March 20, 2023 and stopped it.
Officers asked the driver - Simpson - for his licence before he was drug tested.
After he gave a positive reading for cannabis, he was arrested and taken to Bathurst Police Station, where he gave a second positive test for the drug.
His cannabis reading was later confirmed by forensic analysis.
On a separate occasion, Simpson was stopped behind the wheel of a silver Mitsubishi sedan on Howick Street in Bathurst at 4.30pm on April 22 for drug testing.
Simpson gave a positive reading for methamphetamine before he was arrested and taken to Bathurst Police Station.
While in custody, he gave a second positive reading for the drug, which was later confirmed by forensic analysis.
"I smoke synthetic but I let some mates use my bong so I don't know what they might have put in there," Simpson told police.
Sentence
MAGISTRATE Rodney Brender read through Simpson's lengthy history of drug charges after noting he had completed the Magistrate's Early Referral Into Treatment (MERIT) program.
Simpson was convicted and banned from driving for three months.
