A man was behind the wheel in Bolton with cannabis in his system after driving from London to visit his mother in hospital.

Police were drawn to a Toyota Prius on Bradshawgate in the centre of the town.

Bolton Magistrates Court heart they found Faizal Bhamjee was the driver.

Hajra Afzal, prosecuting, said: “The defendant was asked to stop by officers due to the manner of driving.

“There was a smell of cannabis coming out.

“A drug test came back positive for cannabis.

“He has 19 previous convictions.

“There are driving offences from 2017 including drug driving.”

Read more: Man arrested as GMP carry out stop and search

Read more: Illegal vapes recovered from car boot sale

Read more: Arrests as cannabis plant found

Bhamjee, from Harvey Close, Barnet, London, opted to represent himself in court after pleading guilty to drug driving during the incident in December last year.

He said: “I apologise so much for that.

“That reason I have done this is that I have sciatica.

“When I got stopped I wasn’t smoking at the time.

“I had come up from London in the morning.

“At that time I had a cigarette for the sciatica.

“They said they could smell it, there was nothing in the car.

“That was from six in the morning.”

Chair of the bench Joan Cooper said to him: “It stays in your system for weeks.”

Bhamjee then said: “I went to see my mother who is in intensive care.”

He was then asked how he had got to court from London.

He said: “By train.”

He also said he was on job seekers allowance and was applying for personal independence payments.

He said he had around £150 to spare at the end of each month.

The chair of the bench said: “You have not got an enviable record.

“You are 53, you need to sort yourself out.”

“As you are on benefits and there has been an early guilty plea the fine will be £120.

She also ordered him to pay further costs of £133 and banned him from the roads for a period of 14 months.