HAVING taken MDMA at an illegal rave in Wiltshire before police came along and shut it down, a teenager was planning to sleep it off before he got behind the wheel of his car to drive back to South Devon.

But when police came across Shane Bilyard in a layby near Chitterne on Valentine’s Day they found the key in the ignition, the engine running and him more than seven times over the drug-drive limit. And when officers brought in a sniffer dog they found both class A and class B drugs in the back of the car.

The 18-year-old of Hillside, Sidbury, previously pleaded guilty to the possession of heroin and cannabis, but denied a further charge of being in charge of a car while above the drink drive limit. The matter was scheduled to go to trial on Monday morning at North West Wiltshire Magistrates’ Court in Chippenham, but he changed his plea to guilty at the end of last week.

On Monday morning he came before the bench sitting in Swindon where he pleaded guilty to all three charges, having had no previous convictions recorded against him.

Crown prosecutor Keith Ballinger told the court that officers had come across Bilyard in a 53-plate Honda Civic at around 10am on February 14 near Chitterne after an illegal rave had been shut down.

It is believed more than 250 people attended the unlawful event on the Saturday night, where sound stages had been set up inside a barn at Knook Down. More than 40 police officers, including the dog section from Tri-Force, the Police Support Unit from Swindon and officers from Salisbury plus local units attended, with the event eventually being closed down by 5am on Sunday after formal notices were served.

“As they approached the vehicle they noticed a smell of cannabis,” said Mr Ballinger. “There were two vehicles parked there, both had keys in the ignition and engines running. They carried out a formal drugs search and a police dog was used which found a bag in the rear of the defendant’s car in which officers found 12.8 grams of cannabis and 0.2 grams of heroin.”

After failing a roadside drug wipe test, Bilyard was taken into custody where blood samples were taken. He was found to have 75micrograms of MDMA in a litre of blood. The legal limit is 10 micrograms to allow for any accidental ingestion of the substance.

“In interview he said he had arrived and parked in the layby and gone to the party which had subsequently been shut down,” said Mr Ballinger. “He said he had smoked some cannabis but didn’t plan to leave until he felt capable to drive.”

His defence, Mark Glendenning told the bench that his client was a young man who had made a foolish mistake. “He had spent some time in the car before the police came across him with the intention of sleeping off the drugs before driving home when he felt fit,” he said. “The difference of when he is fit and when he is legal is very different.”

After hearing that he was two years into a mechanical engineering apprenticeship, chairman of the bench Lady Anna Pitt told him: “You were more than seven times over the limit for that which is a significant amount.

“We are going to impose 10 penalty points on your licence and give you a fine of £240, which is reduced from £315 for your guilty plea, and you will also pay £400 in prosecution costs and a £24 victim surcharge.

“Because you are a new driver and you have more than six penalty points on your licence the DVLA will revoke your licence and you will then be subject to a provisional licence.”

She also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs.