A BMW driver banned for being 29 times the legal limit for cocaine claimed he swallowed a wrap when police pulled him over.

In the few seconds it took for PC Robert Cleal and his colleagues to leave their cars on the forecourt of the Shell garage on the A12, in Kelvedon, James Turner had swallowed half a gram of cocaine, he said.

For about three to four junctions, officers pursued his silver 1 Series which was having difficulty maintaining a straight line in the left-hand lane, following a call at about 10.30pm on 

When Turner finally stopped, PC Cleal said Turner was fully compliant.

When asked if there was any indication something was in Turner’s mouth, he said no, but after failing a roadside drug test, he was arrested.

PC Cleal told Colchester Magistrates’ Court: “He began speaking to me straight away. His eyes looked a bit glazed and he was dishevelled, but his speech was fine and he was pleasant and cooperative throughout the whole process.”

Turner, 28, told the court he followed police to the petrol station, panicked, and swallowed the drugs in his car.

The dad previously told officers he took the cocaine the day before, but admitted he lied.

Speaking in court, he said: “I was scared about being caught with the drugs on me.

“I told the police I had taken it after I had done the drug swab because the cocaine would be found in my system, so I thought it’d be better to say it was the night before rather than minutes before I took the test.

“There was no question my driving was safe for that road. I was doing 50mph at all times and was staying in a straight line.

“I wasn’t aware of any issue with my driving.”

Referencing the drugs, he said: “I felt fine for about 15 or 20 minutes and then began to buzz a bit.”

Turner, who said at the time of the offence in December 2016, there were two weekends he used cocaine at a party, was not a regular user.

He denied two charges of driving with 291mg of cocaine per litre of blood and 800mg of benzoylecgonine, a substance formed after the body breaks down cocaine. Turner was 16 times the legal limit.

Expert statements read out in court stated the level of benzoylecgonine was not consistent with a one-off dose and the level of cocaine suggested recent usage.

Emma Davenport, defending, said the two-hour delay in the blood test being done left a black cloud over the evidence.

She said: “You can’t know for certain the reading given was the reading at the time of Turner’s driving.

“The longer the gap between the time of arrest and the reading, the less credible the crown’s evidence would be.”

“He swallowed the coke in a mode of panic.”

Paul Mole, chairman of the bench, said they found the officer’s account credible.

Turner, of Rutland Road, Chelmsford, was banned from driving for 24 months.

The gas engineer, who is unemployed, must also pay £900 in court costs.