A man who was caught driving without insurance for the eighth time has been fined and jailed by the Summary Court and banned from driving for six years.
Appearing via video link from Northward Prison on Wednesday, 2 Nov., Daniel Alexis Walton listened as prosecutor Hema Soondarsingh presented the case against him.
“Mr. Walton was observed speeding along North Side Road in the vicinity of Over the Edge restaurant, overtaking several cars at the same time,” said Soondarsingh, who added that police officers recorded Walton travelling 75 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone.
The court heard that the Walton was stopped on 23 Jan. this year, at which time he admitted to police that he did not have insurance and was disqualified from driving.
Walton had faced one count of driving without insurance, one count of driving whilst disqualified, speeding, and using a vehicle with expired registration. He also faced a single charge of possession of ganja which stems from a small quantity of cannabis which was found by police in Walton’s car.
“He admitted to officers that he did not have a driver’s licence, and that he was disqualified from having one, but he took a chance and drove,” Soondarsingh said.
Walton’s attorney Carina Clare told the court that he was currently serving a three-year sentence for a charge of burglary and asked that the new sentence imposed be allowed to run alongside the first one.
“When he is clean, he is a polite and engaging man,” said Clare. “These offences were borne from the use of illicit substances, but now that he is clean he is understanding that he was wrong. Additionally, he took responsibility for his actions immediately, and so we ask that whatever sentence is imposed be allowed to run concurrent to this current lengthy sentence.”
‘Risk to the public’
However, Magistrate Angelyn Hernandez refused that request.
“Mr. Walton is a serious risk to the public in more ways than one,” said Hernandez. “I’ve counted and he has seven previous driving without insurance and two instances of driving whilst disqualified.”
She added, “When someone is disqualified from driving they don’t go driving and, if they do, they don’t go speeding and, if so, they don’t speed in a 35-mile-zone.”
On the charge of driving without insurance Walton was sentenced to six months in prison. For the charge of driving whilst disqualified he was sentenced to eight months, plus he was handed a six-year disqualification from driving, which began on 2 Nov.
On the charge of using a vehicle with expired registration, he was sentenced to three months in prison, and the for the charge of speeding he was fined $500 or five weeks in prison.
For the ganja charge, he was sentenced to seven days in prison.
The charges were ordered to run concurrently to each other, and consecutively to his current burglary sentencing, meaning he will have to serve an additional eight months after he completes his prison time for the burglary.
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There are far too many disqualified drivers on our roads, giving them a further ban is a complete waste of time.The only way to stop them is jail them, 8 months is a pat on the wrist, it should have received a much longer sentence.