DRIVING home from a friend’s house after smoking a celebratory cannabis joint ultimately landed birthday girl Rikki Graham with one present she would rather forget…a 12-month driving ban.

Pleading guilty to a charge of driving while unfit through drugs, the 23-year-old was also fined �100 and ordered to pay �85 court costs and a �15 victim surcharge by magistrates in Cambridge on Thursday.

Scheherazade Haque, prosecuting, told the court that the 23-year-old was driving home in the early hours of March 26 through Fordham when she was spotted by on duty officer Sgt ??????? Walker.

The officer noticed she was driving unusually slow and decided to follow her. Though the vehicle remained within the speed limit, he noticed that the 23-year-old’s blue Ford Ka was drifting across the road and failed to speed up when the limit of the road changed from 30mph to 60mph.

The officer decided to stop the vehicle and reported that Graham, of St Alban’s Way in Thetford, Norfolk was slurring her speech, smelt strongly of cannabis and was unsteady on her feet.

After being taken to Parkside Police Station in Cambridge, Graham was put through a series of impairment tests.

“She was swaying and lost her balance consistently,” said Haque, “She was unable to do the ‘touch the nose’ test, ending up touching her lip instead.”

A blood test later revealed there were traces of cannabis derivatives in Graham’s system and she was arrested.

Representing herself in court, Graham said: “Because it was my birthday I went round a friend’s house and had half a cannabis cigarette to celebrate.

“I’m so sorry about it, I’m normally a very sensible person.”