A SUSPECTED drug driver was cleared of charges after claiming that he consumed cannabis while waiting for a police officer to release a trapped child.

David Terrance Cree, 23, of Ridgemoor Road, Leominster, was found not guilty after trial of drug driving and being in charge of a vehicle while over the drug driving legal limit.

Kriss Ewing, prosecuting at Hereford Magistrates Court on Monday, said that at 5.45pm on July 24, 2016, a police officer had seen Cree driving his Seat Leon on the A44 in Leominster.

"The car was blowing an excessive amount of soot and smoke so the police officer followed him into Morrisons carpark," said Mrs Ewing.

"The officer requested a drug swipe before going to help a lady who had a trapped two-year-old daughter in another vehicle."

A drug swipe was eventually carried out which Cree failed and he was taken to the police station.

He gave a reading of 2.4ug/L per 100ml of blood of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (the active compound found in cannabis), the legal limit is two.

PC Andy Wortley, said that Cree was one of four occupants in the car and he was carrying out routine checks when a member of Morrisons staff came over to seek his assistance.

He asked Cree to get back into his own vehicle and remain at the scene. PC Wortley used method of entry tools to break the glass and gain entry into the woman's vehicle 20 metres away from the scene.

He estimated that it took between five and 10 minutes to help the woman.

PC Wortley said that he didn't smell drugs on Cree but the drug swipe was part of a moving traffic offence.

On interview when asked if he had taken any drugs since the offence Cree replied 'one of the boys had a popper so I had a couple of tokes'.

Philip Cornell, mitigating, said that PC Wortley wasn't watching Cree the whole time as he was concentrating on the child.

Cree said that he had also smoked cannabis the night before the incident.

He told magistrates that his friends had a small cigarette with cannabis in at the scene which they decided to smoke to destroy the evidence.

"In my opinion my car stunk of cannabis and we had all previously been in trouble for possessing cannabis and didn't want to come back to court," said Cree.

"In the past with police every time they stop me they search me as I'm known to have drugs. It took 40 to 50 seconds to smoke as we were passing it to each other fast."

Mrs Ewing claimed that Cree had made that excuse up on the way to the police station.

She added that the police officer didn't smell any drugs in the car or on Cree.

"If he smoked in the car I would find it highly unlikely the officer didn't notice the smell of cannabis," said Mrs Ewing.

"It is also highly unlikely that he walked around smoking a spliff after just being stopped by police. At the scene he didn't mention that he had just had some."

Mr Cornell added that there was no evidence to suggest Clee had made the claim up and he wanted to get rid of the cannabis for obvious reasons.

Magistrates said that the delay in carrying out the drug swipe caused doubt in the charge and the likelihood of him to drive afterwards had not been proved.

The charges were dismissed.