A DAD-of-three was unable to give a blood sample at a police station because he started having a panic attack.

Mohammed Ikhlaq was stopped in the early hours after officers on patrol spotted the van he was driving moving erratically on a road in Worcester, magistrates heard.

The 37-year-old was arrested after providing a positive roadside drug wipe but failed to provide a blood sample when taken to the police station.

Kerry Lovegrove, prosecuting, said the defendant also had no insurance for the vehicle and officers found the front tyres were below the legal tread limit when he was stopped on August 21.

The wing mirror of the Ford Transit Connect was also damaged, according to officers.

The court heard that Ikhlaq had previously been pulled over at random by police earlier this year and taken to a station for drugs testing, as part of an ongoing voluntary scheme.

This experience had been traumatic for the defendant, as nurses failed to take any blood, despite numerous attempts.

Judith Kenney, defending, said her client suffered from anxiety and had also been diagnosed as borderline suicidal.

She said the previous time he had gone to a police station to give a blood sample but “following five attempts, they couldn’t find a vein.”

This had heightened his anxiety and, despite a nurse’s attempts to calm him down on August 21, the court heard he told staff: “I want to but I can’t, I am sorry.

"I won’t go through that pain.”

Mrs Kenney said: “When he got into the nurse’s room, he was terrified about what had happened before.

"His anxiety kicked in and he couldn’t do it.”

She said, “it is a difficulty he has” and accepted “it is not a defence” but believes that he “did his best”, despite the panic attack brought on from the previous experience.

Ikhlaq, of Avon Road, Worcester, had been dropping off a friend in Birmingham in a borrowed van when he was pulled over, the solicitor said.

Mrs Kenney said the officers found the outer tyre tread was of legal limit on the two tyres in question, but the inner tread wasn’t.

She said this would be difficult for Ikhlaq to notice, having solely borrowed the vehicle to make the trip, with the officer having to “put the vehicle on full lock” to check accurately.

She added, Ikhlaq was simply “trying to do a favour for a friend” and mistakenly believed he was covered to drive the van.

Ikhlaq accepted charges of failure to provide a specimen for analysis, using a passenger vehicle with insufficient tyre tread and using a vehicle without insurance, when appearing in court on Thursday (September 6).

Charles Townshend, chair of the bench, said he and his colleagues “understand the reasons” as to why the defendant couldn’t provide a blood sample.

The defendant has three children who he provides for through employment support allowance payments.

He was disqualified from driving for 12 months, and ordered to pay a fine of £120 for failing to provide a specimen, £80 for having incorrect tyre tread and £120 for not having insurance covering him to drive the vehicle.

Ikhlaq was also ordered to pay £135 in court costs and a £30 victim surcharge.