A MAN caught drug driving claimed he smoked cannabis due to the after-effects of an assault in which he lost an eye.

Aaron Horner, of Cliff Road, Cowes, admitted drug driving in Shalfleet on April 20.

A police motorcyclist clocked Horner's vehicle at 41mph in a 30mph limit and was pulled over on Warlands Lane.

Horner failed a roadside drug swab and was subsequently arrested, said Munayah Hassan, prosecuting, at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court.

At Newport Police Station, Horner provided a blood sample, which revealed a reading of 5.1ug/L of a cannabis metabolite, when the legal limit is 2.0ug/L.

For Horner, who is unemployed, Jim Osborne said his client lost an eye in a serious assault in a pub in 2009, when someone "rammed his head into a glass".

His injury left him disabled and scarred by mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder.

Horner said he uses cannabis to calm him and did so the night before he was pulled over — something he deeply regretted, Mr Osborne explained.

Horner interjected and said he smoked cannabis in the evenings to help him sleep.

Magistrates ordered a pre-sentence report before the sentencing on September 8.

Horner was made subject of an interim driving ban.