Three months’ jail for breaching driving ban

A MOTORIST was jailed for three months yesterday for twice being caught at the wheel after he had been banned following a drink-driving offence.

The unemployed Russian man had his licence suspended in December 2005 after being caught by police driving under the influence of alcohol. Due to the high amount of points on his licence already, a court ruled that his licence be suspended for three months.

But the suspension did little to keep the 28-year-old off the roads. Just a month into his suspension he was stopped by police for speeding, and was charged with driving a vehicle without a valid licence, driving a vehicle without insurance and speeding.

A the time, the defence had requested that the court show leniency, claiming the man had just given a lift to his cousin to hospital because she needed urgent attention.

But he was in trouble again just five days later when police again stopped him for speeding.

Yesterday, his defence lawyer said he was recently engaged to be married to a college student and struggling financially because he was unemployed.

But Judge Charalambos Charalambous was unmoved by the plea for leniency.

“I don’t accept the plea that he wasn’t thinking properly because he was distressed about his cousin when telling officers that he had to drive her to hospital. She could have gone to hospital by taxi or ambulance. Furthermore, he was at it again just five days later so it is blatantly obvious to the court that the accused has not learnt from his mistakes,” said Judge Charalambous.

“The only fitting punishment for the accused is to remove him from society so he can once and for all learn to respect the laws of the road and the court. I sentence the accused to three months imprisonment while the court also rules that his driving licence remain suspended for another six months.”