Britain’s oldest drug driver, 81, took cocaine at own party before getting in car
An 81-year-old man has just bagged the unenviable title of Britain's oldest drug driver.
Arthur Ball was caught behind the wheel, while under the influence of cocaine as he made his way home from his own birthday party back in June.
The pensioner - who needs hearing aids, uses two walking sticks, and has had a carer for 15 years - was pulled over just after midnight in Warrington, Cheshire.
Officers stopped the OAP while he was driving his taxpayer funded Motability car, a Toyota Yaris, which bizarrely had a police marker on it following claims the vehicle was being used by a drug dealer.
Advert
Warrington Magistrates Court heard how Ball told cops that he had not been drinking alcohol and never took drugs when police intercepted his journey home.
He blew zero on a breathalyser, however, the same couldn't be said when he completed a drugwipe.
According to the British Transport Police, officers of the law can demand you take a roadside screening test if they think you have taken drugs, if you’ve committed a traffic offence or you've been involved in a road traffic collision.
Ball ended up testing three times the limit for cocaine after complying with the officers request, so he was hauled off in handcuffs on 2 June this year.
The court heard how the pensioner claimed that a guest at his birthday party must have slipped a wrap of cocaine into his lemonade during the bash.
Ball's solicitor 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.''
It is thought that Ball's carer will now drive the Toyota in wake of him ending up in hot water.
Ball ultimately pleaded guilty to drug driving, seeing him get slapped with a 12 month ban from the roads and a £120 fine.
He was also ordered to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £48.
Nigel Jones, prosecuting, told Warrington Magistrates Court: "The defendant was asked to provide a roadside breath test and a sample for a drugwipe.
"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. There are no aggravating features."
Blood tests showed that Ball had 162 micrograms of benzoylecgonine (BZE) - a breakdown product of cocaine - per litre of blood in his system. The legal limit is 50 mg.
As a result, the 81-year-old has now become Britain's oldest drug driver.
When 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 - and according to the DVLA, in one year alone, 78 drivers aged over 60 years old were prosecuted for failing drugs tests.
The eldest driver banned prior to Ball was a 74-year-old woman.
Olivia Burke