A Cowra man was fined and convicted from driving when he came before Cowra Local Court on September 27, 2023 to answer the charge of drive vehicle with an illicit present in blood.

Corey Scott McKeown, 34, of Jindalee Circuit, Cowra pleaded guilty to the charge and was convicted, fined $400 and disqualified from driving for six months.

Sentencing McKeown Magistrate Rana Daher asked him if he knew how long cannabis stays in the system.

Ms Daher determined his matter was on the lower end of seriousness as he was detected when he was stopped for random testing.

According to police documents tendered in court, about 9:55pm on February 18, 2023 police stopped McKeown on Victor Street, Cowra for the purposes of random testing.

McKeown handed police a P2 provisional licence when police asked.

He returned a negative result for alcohol when breath tested.

McKeown then returned a positive result for cannabis when subjected to a drug test.

He was arrested and taken to Cowra Police Station for secondary testing, which also provided a positive result for cannabis.

A sample sent for further testing also returned a positive result.

In relation to taking the drug, McKeown told police he had smoked cannabis previously but had hadn't used it for a long time.

McKeown told police his partner, who he was with previous to be stopping, had smoked cannabis and blown the smoke in his face.