A DRUG driver caught twice in just four days has been ordered to go to rehab.

Steven Hicks, of Priory Road in West Moors, was first arrested in Stanfield Road, Poole on May 12. On May 16, police found him behind the wheel of his Mercedes Vito van in Richmond Park Close, Bournemouth.

On both occasions, Hicks, 37, had cocaine and its primary derivative, benzoylecgonine, in his blood.

He has now admitted four counts of driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit before a district judge at Poole Magistrates’ Court.

Richard Withey, prosecuting on Wednesday morning, said Hicks was “slurring” and speaking slowly when he was first caught.

Asked by police if he had taken drugs, the defendant first said he didn’t know before later admitting he had taken cocaine.

He had 22 micrograms of cocaine and more than 200 micrograms of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood on the first occasion. The limits are 10 micrograms and 50 micrograms respectively.

When he was stopped for the second time in Bournemouth, the readings were significantly higher. Hicks had 40 micrograms of cocaine and more than 800 micrograms of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood.

Probation service officials say the defendant, who works in telecommunications, first began taking drugs after moving from Wimborne to Boscombe three years ago.

He now has an “issue” with both cocaine and crack cocaine, it was said.

Hicks, a father-of-two, will “benefit from intervention to address his drug use”, the court heard.

Officials requested the sentence was adjourned for several weeks for the defendant to “demonstrate motive” in tackling his problems with cocaine.

District Judge Stephen Nicholls agreed to delay the sentencing hearing to allow the defendant to start rehab.

Hicks, who was not represented, has been banned from driving on an interim basis ahead of the hearing.

He will next appear before the courts in early November.

The judge said the defendant must comply with all requirements before his return for sentence.

“The proposal from the probation service is for the matter to be adjourned for [Hicks] to go and see if he can satisfy them with regard to his motive,” the judge said.

“This will involve not taking drugs, and attending rehab.”

If Hicks can impress the probation service, he could face a lesser sentence, it was heard.

However, the judge warned the defendant: “If you do not attend [rehab], or your attendance is not [deemed] very positive, all sentencing options remain open.”

The length of Hicks’s driving ban will be determined during the sentencing hearing.