A MAN has been given a suspended prison sentence after drug-driving on three occasions.

Joshua Marshall, of Beechwood Crescent, Tyldesley, was found with amphetamine, benzoylecgonine and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in his blood over the prescribed limit when he was driving in Manchester on Christmas Eve.

The 25-year-old was also found in possession of class B drugs amphetamine and cannabis on the same date.

A month later on January 24, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and amphetamine was detected in Marshall's system which was over the prescribed limit again when he was driving in Northwich.

Then on February 10, he was found driving on Railway Road in Leigh with amphetamine, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and benzoylecgonine in his blood and over the limit.

The defendant was given a sentence of four months suspended for 18 months and banned from driving for three years.

Reasons for Marshall being given the sentence at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates' Court on Friday include "the sheer number of times" he has been caught drug-driving, an "evidence of bad driving" and that "the general public and other road users need protection" from him.