A PEMBROKESHIRE chef has been ordered off the roads after being caught driving home from work after consuming cannabis.

A drugs wipe was carried out on Daniel Coles just after midnight on December 10 after police officers observed him driving his Vauxhall from his workplace in Narberth to his home in Garden Meadows Park, Tenby.

“There was a small of cannabis emanating from the vehicle,” Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan told Haverfordwest magistrates this week.

When the drugs wipe proved positive, Coles, 25, was conveyed to the police station where further blood tests were carried out. These confirmed that Coles had 11 mcg of Delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in his system. The legal limit is 2.

After pleading guilty to the drug-driving offence, he was legally represented by solicitor, Tom Lloyd who said that at the time of the offence, the defendant was employed as a chef in Narberth.

“He had no other way of getting home that night, and so he decided to drive,” he said. “But his job is now in jeopardy as it’s going to be virtually impossible for him to work those anti-social hours without transport.”

Coles was disqualified from driving for 12 months. He was fined £246 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £98 court surcharge.

A COURT granted a restraining order to a woman,  despite her not being the victim of the original crime.

The request for the order was made to Haverfordwest magistrates on Tuesday when James Britton appeared via a video link from Cardiff Prison.

Last month Britton, of Coronation Avenue, Haverfordwest, was  convicted of assaulting a 72-year-old cancer victim.  Following the hearing, he was sentenced to 52 weeks in custody. 

This week the victim’s daughter, urged magistrates to impose a restraining order preventing him from having any contact with her following his release.

“I saw this horrific attack on my dad after he forced his way into my house, and I’d be really thankful if I could get some protection,” she said in an email submitted to the Crown Prosecution.  “He’s put us through hell for long enough.

“We’re not together and haven’t been since 2023, and I just want to keep my little family safe.

“But what we have now is nothing but harassment, blackmail and intimidation.  At the moment we’re just existing, waiting for him to do something again.  It’s not fair that we have to live like this.”

But solicitor Tom Lloyd stressed that Britton, of Coronation Avenue, Haverfordwest,  is the father of the woman’s child.

“He has every legal entitlement to see his child and what she says is untrue,” he said. 

“He hasn’t blackmailed her in any way and as the child’s father, he has parental rights.”

After considering the facts, magistrates granted Ms Parsley’s request. 

“We believe it’s necessary and proportionate,” commented the presiding magistrate.

The order will prevent Britton from contacting Cara Parsley directly or indirectly and from entering Winch Crescent, Haverfordwest. 

The order will continue for two years.

“I think you’ve made the wrong decision,” commented James Britton on hearing the magistrates’ decision.  “But I accept it.”

A PEMBROKESHIRE man is to appear before a Crown Court judge for trial charged with the intentional strangulation of a female.

Brian Pratt, 51, is accused of the intentional strangulation of the woman at an undisclosed location in Maenclochog on March 4.

He faces a second charge of assaulting her the same day, causing actual bodily harm. The Crown Prosecution alleges that the woman’s breathing was restricted for approximately ten seconds as a result of the strangulation, and her finger was broken during the assault.

This week Pratt, of Penterfyn Cottage, Maenclochog, appeared before Haverfordwest magistrates where he denied both charges.

Despite magistrates accepting jurisdiction in the cse, Pratt elected a Crown Court trial and proceedings will now commence at Swansea on May 2.

He was released on unconditional bail.