Wick offender claims he can't do work order without smoking cannabis
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A Wick offender who popped out to puff a cannabis cigarette during one of his community work commitments has said he can’t do them without the drug.
The shock admission prompted Sheriff Andrew Berry to warn Donald Wilkie about the potential long-term danger to his health of such an addiction and urged him to “see a doctor asap”.
Wilkie (34) originally appeared at Wick Sheriff Court in May, when he admitted charges of dangerous driving and resisting arrest, as well as having a record.
The court heard then that he overtook a car on a straight stretch of the Wick-Castletown road, on April 24, at speeds that reached 90mph in a 60mph limit while approaching a right-hand bend where chevrons and various hazard signs were displayed.
Wilkie failed to negotiate the bend, lost control of the car, left the road and hit two telegraph poles.
He tried to avoid being handcuffed by police officers at the scene and lashed out with his legs. He was said, then, to be ‘struggling‘ with his abuse of drink and drugs. The 34-year-old was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work and was banned from driving for a year. He will
also have to resit his driving test.
Wilkie subsequently breached his work order by smoking cannabis while working and had 50 hours added to the order.
The accused, of Murchison Street, Wick, reappeared in the court on Wednesday to hear a report on his progress.
It was then that Sheriff Berry took him to task over its contents. The report described as “a matter of concern” that Wilkie believed he couldn’t do the work without using cannabis.
Sheriff Berry told him: “That is bizarre. If you can’t do a day’s work without smoking cannabis, I suggest you see a doctor asap.”
The sheriff warned him that such an addiction could have long-term effects on the accused’s general and mental health.
He added that people who took drugs every day regarded it as something of a social party exercise but they were "completely deluded” and added: "It’s an unfortunate aspect of the society in which we live.”
The sheriff allowed Wilkie’s unpaid work order to continue.
