A Derry man has been disqualified from driving for 15 months after police stopped his car and discovered a straw commonly associated with cocaine use.

Sean Rodgers, 43, of Circular Road, appeared at Londonderry Magistrates’ Court charged with offences arising from an incident on 12 January.

The court was told that police on patrol observed Rodgers driving and that he initially refused to stop. At one point he was driving very close to the vehicle in front of him.

When officers eventually brought him to a halt, they found the straw inside the car. Subsequent blood tests returned a reading of 0.2mg of cocaine.

Rodgers was also charged with driving without insurance. Defence barrister Fergal McCormick told the court that his client holds insurance but that the policy did not cover the vehicle he was driving that day.

District Judge Ted Magill noted that these were Rodgers’ first driving offences and gave him credit for an early guilty plea. In addition to the 15-month disqualification, he imposed a fine of £250.