A man who was caught driving without insurance while high on Cannabis told police he had to take his pregnant girlfriend to the hospital.

Matthew Lambert was driving a Vauxhall Corsa in February when a patrol car pulled in behind him when he was waiting to turn into a junction.

Officers did a check on the vehicle to see if it was legal to be driven on the road and found there was no insurance policy on it, and so pulled the car over as it turned into Oakapple Lane from Hermitage Lane, Maidstone.

The 25-year-old was spoken to by the officers and he admitted he was not insured to drive the Corsa and then officers decided to carry out a drug swipe test, which Lambert failed. He was then arrested and taken to a police station.

Further blood tests revealed he had THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, in his system which showed he had nine micrograms of the drug per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

Lambert, of no fixed address, but from the Maidstone area, was later charged with drug-driving and driving without insurance. He admitted both offences when he appeared at Maidstone Magistrates’ Court on June 6.

Debbie Jones, prosecuting, told the court the Lambert was pulled over on February 16 and already had six points on his licence after being convicted of driving without insurance in 2021.

Ms Jones added: “Officers saw the car slow down at junction on Hermitage Lane and officers checked and there was no insurance for the car.

“He was given a drug swipe and THC was found in his system.”

Defending himself, Lambert told magistrates he only drove that day because his girlfriend, who was in the early stages of pregnancy at the time, had been suffering from severe pains.

He said he decided to take her to the hospital to get her checked over and was only seconds away when he got pulled over, telling the court: “I panicked over my girlfriend”.

Magistrates decided to ban Lambert from driving for 12 months and fined him £261 for the drug-driving offence.

He was also fined £261 for driving without insurance and his licence was endorsed.

Lambert was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £209 and £85 court costs.