9:04 am, September 12, 2024
A car dealer has lost his job after being caught doing 100mph while over the drug-drive limit and with a child in the back of the vehicle.
Kent-based car salesman Joshua Morriss was clocked at an average speed of 97mph by an undercover police officer as he weaved between traffic on the M2 between Sittingbourne and Faversham.
The 30-year-old was witnessed tailgating and undertaking other road users, as well as veering into the hard shoulder, Kent Live reports.
Morriss, who was driving a Mercedes A200, was eventually pulled over by police, with a roadside drug test returning a positive result for delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol – a breakdown product of cannabis.
He has now appeared at Canterbury Crown Court where a judge labelled him ‘bullish’, ‘bullying’ and an ‘idiot’, whose actions were ‘spectacularly dangerous’.
The experienced motor trader admitted dangerous driving and driving while over the specified drug limit and was banned from the roads.
The court heard that Morriss, of Freemen’s Way in Deal, was not a recreational drug user and instead used cannabis to manage pain brought on by a previous motorcycle accident.
Since his arrest, on December 20, he has received a prescription for the drug and now takes cannabis legally for medicinal purposes.
Prosecutor James Harrison told the court that Morriss, who has been a car salesman for 13 years, gave a reading of 2.6 microgrammes (mcg) per litre of blood for delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol – just above the legal limit of 2mcg.
Explaining what happened on the day of Morriss’s arrest, Harrison said: ‘Officers in an unmarked vehicle were travelling on the M2 between Stockbury and Faversham when a black Mercedes overtook them.
‘It appeared to be driving aggressively and over the course of several minutes it tailgated other vehicles and undertook, driving on to the hard shoulder at speed.
‘At points, he exceeded 100mph and police recorded an average speed over half a mile of 97mph.’
In mitigation, Morriss’s legal team said their client had been ‘immediately apologetic’ when pulled over and fully co-operated with the police.
Officers admitted he had not been slurring his words and felt the drugs in his system were not impairing him.
Defence lawyer Tom Worden added that his client was now out of work as a result of the incident and appealed for leniency as Morriss uses his car to drive his father, who uses crutches.
Worden said: ‘He is remorseful and the first thing he did was apologise to the officers, and continued to do so.
‘He tells me today he has committed a very stupid period of driving which could have had far more serious consequences than it did.’
Judge Simon Taylor KC also heard that the tyres on Morriss’s Mercedes were severely worn and he was joined in the car by his long-term partner and her young daughter, who is autistic.
After considering all the evidence, Judge Taylor hit Morriss with a three-month jail term suspended for 12 months, as well as a 12-month ban from driving.
He must also carry out 80 hours of unpaid work and was placed under a four-month curfew, meaning he must be at home between 8pm and 4am.
Finally, the judge ordered him to pay court costs totalling £500 and told him that he will have to take an extended test if he is to win back his licence.
The judge said: ‘The facts of this case are disturbing. You were overtaking and driving aggressively, such that you drew the attention of police.
‘You were seen to be tailgating other vehicles, undertaking and, what I consider to be the worst aspect, you undertook on the hard shoulder, which is a spectacularly dangerous manoeuvre.
‘Not only did you undertake on the hard shoulder but the speeds were far in excess of those permitted.
‘This wasn’t driving at 77 or 80 but in excess of 100, with an average speed of 97 over the course of half a mile, and all of that while you had passengers in the car, one of whom was a child. It was a very bad piece of driving.
‘I’m quite sure you didn’t set out that day to engage in criminal behaviour. But you crossed the line from someone being in a rush to someone bullying and being bullish on our roads and that could create havoc or death.
‘To make it worse, you were driving over the limit for cannabis.
‘But in that video [arrest footage] you were very apologetic to police and, in my assessment, you almost immediately realised what an idiot you had been.’
Morriss had two previous convictions – both related to cannabis – dating from 2010 and 2016.
Main image: Canterbury Crown Court © Gareth Fuller/PA Archive/PA Images
