Drug driver banned after being caught during proactive policing operation
A proactive road safety policing operation has led to a drug driver being banned from the roads for three years.
In December 2025, the Force took part in a national campaign focused on drink and drug driving over the festive period.
As part of this, officers carried out a number of targeted operations across the county to identify motorists who were driving under the influence.
On the evening of Friday 5 December 2025, roads policing officers were on proactive patrols travelling along Church Road in Ferndown when they noticed a red BMW come out of a junction at speed and go round a corner very quickly.
The vehicle was also heavily steamed up inside.
Officers stopped the vehicle nearby and when the driver’s door was opened, there was an immediate smell of cannabis.
The driver – 24-year-old Thomas Lay of Ferndown – conducted a roadside drug test, which came back positive. He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody where he provided an evidential sample of blood, which showed the presence of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – the psychoactive constituent of cannabis – at a rate of almost seven micrograms per litre of blood, the legal limit being two micrograms per litre of blood.
He appeared at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 25 March 2026 and pleaded guilty to driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit.
The defendant was disqualified from driving for three years and ordered to pay costs totalling £515.
Police Constable Mike Wells, of the Roads Policing Team, said: “These focused operations provide us with an opportunity to target those who cause the most harm on our roads.
“This case shows that driving while under the influence of drugs can have a significant impact on your life – you can lose your licence and be banned from driving.”