A trainee barber who crashed while collecting his family for church on New Year's Eve has been sentenced for drug driving.

19-year-old Ryan Njenga, of Dunsley Vale, Swindon, was stoned when he crashed into a bollard on Commercial Road.

He pleaded guilty in Swindon Magistrates' Court on July 9 to drug driving, after being tested with 3.6 micrograms of THC per litre blood, the legal limit being two.

Njenga had had his licence for four months when police were called to a crashed Volkswagen T-Roc at 9.50am on December 31, 2023, explained prosecutor Keith Ballinger.

He had dropped a friend at home and was picking his family up for church, and admits he had smoked cannabis earlier in the day.

Njenga did a roadside drug swipe which tested positive, and later at the hospital had a positive blood test.

Ballinger said: “The collision suggests an unacceptable standard of driving.”

Njenga, who is training to be a barber, still smokes cannabis though not as much.

Mark Glendenning, defending, said: “It is a very harsh lesson and he will face a financial penalty when he gets to reinsure himself. It is expensive enough for young people as it is.”

Njenga, who wore a black suit and buttoned-up white shirt with no tie, has no previous convictions for driving offences.

He said: “I would like to apologise for my actions.”

He was fined £120, £85 costs and a 16-month driving ban after which he can reapply for his license.