A woman who drove while under the influence of cannabis has been banned from driving for two years and fined £1,000.

Anna Jane Christian had previously pleaded not guilty to the offence but on Thursday (March 2), changed her plea to guilty.

Magistrates also ordered the 29-year-old to take an extended test at the end of her ban.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain told the court that police saw Christian driving a Seat Leon at 9pm on June 2 last year, on the A2 coast road at Glen Mona.

Checks were being undertaken after the TT races and Christian, who lives in Murray’s Road in Douglas, was subsequently stopped.

She had children in the car and her eyes were described as glazed.

She initially told police that she had been drinking that night, but a breathalyser test proved negative.

Officers reported a smell of cannabis in the car, so a drug wipe test was performed which proved positive for the class B drug.

Christian was arrested and taken to police headquarters where she gave a blood sample which was sent for analysis, and later produced a reading of 4.4.

The legal limit for cannabis is two.

Mr Swain said that it had been a concern that there were children in the car but there had been no report of poor driving.

Defence advocate David Clegg said that his client’s only previous conviction was for failing to comply with a traffic signal in 2012, so she should be effectively treated as a person of good character.

Mr Clegg also said that a UK guidance note on drug readings said that because there is no research as to the levels being linked to incapacity, the readings should not be treated as an aggravating factor.

The advocate said that Christian had gone through a difficult few years but had been doing a lot better up until her arrest.

‘Prior to her arrest she was working in a cleaning business and was just in the process of setting up her own business,’ said Mr Clegg.

But with the mandatory minimum two-year driving ban, the advocate said that this was now unlikely.

‘There was no criticism of the standard of driving and she has been compliant with the police,’ he added.

‘She said she consumed cannabis the night before. This is not someone who wilfully smoked cannabis and drove.

‘She thought she would be OK to drive.’

Magistrates also ordered Christian to pay £125 prosecution costs which she will pay, along with the fine, at a rate of £10 per week, deducted from benefits.