A MAN who led police on a cannabis-fuelled chase through Swindon was again caught in possession of the Class B drug.

Joshua David McLeod was given a suspended sentence in January 2021 after a high-speed chase that saw him drive through red lights, the wrong way around roundabouts and hit 80mph in 40 zones.

But the now 21-year-old was again caught in possession of cannabis on May 7, putting him in breach of that order, Swindon Magistrates’ Court was told on Tuesday (August 9).

McLeod, of Beatrice Street in Gorse Hill, had 16 grams of the drugs over three bags, prosecutor Tom Power told the court.

It was also heard that breach proceedings on the suspended sentence are upcoming after he allegedly failed to attend several unpaid work sessions.

Sentencing Council guidelines say that a court must activate a suspended sentence following a further offence unless it would be “unjust in all the circumstances to do so”.

Breaching the order can also see the sentence activated, the guidelines state.

Defending McLeod, Emma Thacker said that her client made “full and frank admissions” to the police.

She went on to say that he had cannabis to self-medicate for mental health issues, and now he has received medication from his GP, is reducing his usage.

Depression was also the reason he missed unpaid work sessions, Ms Thacker said, as “he was struggling to go to the group sessions”.

Ms Thacker asked magistrates to impose a financial penalty in relation to the cannabis offence.

McLeod, who had early pleaded guilty to possession of a Class B drug, was fined £80.

He must also pay £85 in costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

The bench notified the Crown Court about the breach, and it will decide how to deal with this.

At his sentencing last January, the court heard how McLeod had been parked in a Mitsubishi Carisma near Barbury Castle in the early hours of March 8, 2020, when police officers had knocked on the window as they could smell cannabis.

McLeod refused to wind down the window and made off at speed, hitting 80mph in 40mph zones and 70mph on roads with 30mph limits.

The court heard how he went through numerous red lights “without hesitation”, and went straight over numerous mini-roundabouts, ending in the town centre.

Tests at the police station showed McLeod was more than three times the drug-drive limit for cannabis. He was given a 10-month jail sentence, suspended for two years.