A learner who was drug-driving a stolen vehicle without insurance or a full licence in Swindon has been banned from the roads.

Jordan Kendall, 24, of Old Cobblers Place, Leicestershire, pleaded guilty to drug driving without a valid licence and insurance at Swindon Magistrates' Court on August 20.

On March 7, Kendall was driving on the A419 from Cirencester when he caught the attention of police officers in Swindon, after they noticed his Ford Focus appeared to have cloned registration plates.

Officers then stung the tyres of his vehicle to prevent a pursuit, approached the car and removed Kendall from the driving seat, while quickly realising the car smelled of cannabis.

A roadside wipe test confirmed he had been smoking the class B drug and officers checked the vehicle and discovered it was stolen and discovered shortly after that Kendall only held a provisional licence.

He was also driving unsupervised without learner plates on and admitted he did not have insurance either.

In mitigation, his defence barrister Mr Glendenning said Kendall was a habitual cannabis user, which he relied on to calm himself down, and he did not realise the car was stolen because he had bought it on Facebook Marketplace, so he was suffering a financial loss after it had been seized.

He added that Kendall was in the process of learning to drive and taking his test, hence why he had bought the car, and gaining a full licence would expand his work opportunities in the care sector, but instead he “foolishly took the decision to drive that day.”

The court heard how Kendall, who has a young child, did have a variety of previous convictions, with his most recent one being battery in August 2021.

After the evidence had been presented, the magistrate told him: “Drug driving is never a good idea.”

He reinforced the importance of Kendall following the rules of the road and remembering his learner plates and ensuring he had an appropriate supervisor next time he was driving.

Nevertheless, Kendall was disqualified for 12 months and fined £461 for the drug driving offence, £461 for no insurance and £153 for not having a valid licence, along with a £430 surcharge and prosecution costs of £85 – a total of £1,590.

The magistrate added: “A future court is likely to be rather cross with you if you have done it more than once.”