A Douglas woman who drove under the influence of cocaine has been banned from the roads for two years and fined £1,200.

Forty-three-year-old Natalie Naomi Robertson admitted the offence, as well as being under the influence of benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite.

She’d previously denied the offences but later changed her pleas to guilty.

High Bailiff James Brooks also ordered Robertson to pay £300 prosecution costs, and to take an extended test at the end of the ban.

Prosecuting advocate Harry Bellis told the court the defendant was stopped by police on October 31, at 2.05am, while driving a Nissan Qashqai on Circular Road in Douglas.

It was a routine check, but officers reported that Robertson ‘skittish’, with large pupils. A drug wipe test proved positive for the class A drug cocaine, so she was arrested.

Blood was taken at police headquarters, which later produced results of 23 for cocaine, which has a legal limit of 10, and 277 for benzoylecgonine, above the limit of 50.

The court heard that the defendant, who lives at Queen’s Promenade in Douglas, had no previous convictions.

Defence advocate Paul Glover asked for credit to be given for his client’s guilty pleas, though not entered immediately.

He said that it had been a relatively quiet time of night when Robertson was on the road, and there had been no criticism of her manner of driving.

Mr Glover said that her life had been on hold for six months while proceedings were ongoing, and her income would be significantly impacted as her licence was required for her employment.

The advocate asked the court to treat the incident as a single offence, as he said his client had not taken two drugs.

Robertson will pay the fine and costs at a rate of £15 per week.