McDonald's Helps to Apprehend Another Drink Driver

Fast food giant McDonald's has helped police apprehend another drink driver, albeit in a slightly indirect manner on this occasion.

Brian Okidi, 33, of Greenhithe Road, Aylestone, Leicester, was previously convicted of driving with excess alcohol, obstructing a police constable and driving without insurance.

He was sentenced at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Friday, 6th December 2024.

Driving with excess alcohol is an offence contrary to section 5(1) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and has a maximum sentence of 26 weeks' custody and/or a fine at level 5 (unlimited) on summary conviction.

Magistrates heard that Okidi's black MG motor vehicle was brought to the attention of police on the morning of Monday, 22nd July.

A member of the public had reported that the car was obstructing a cycle lane and the driver, now identified as Okidi, was dozing behind the wheel.

Sukhy Basi, prosecuting, continued: "Officers approached and saw him asleep with a McDonald's breakfast half eaten and the engine still running. The officer had to knock heavily to rouse the defendant."

After giving a false name, Okidi stumbled as he exited the vehicle. Having cause to suspect he was under the influence, the officers required him to complete a road side breath test.

On failing the road side test, Okidi was arrested and taken to the police station. Whilst there he provided an evidential specimen containing 97 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the prescribed limit being 35 microgrammes.

Mr Basi said: "He (Okidi) said he had been drinking whiskey in town all night. When asked when he had stopped drinking he said, 'In all honesty, I don't know."

During interview the 33-year-old, who is no stranger to either the police or McDonald's, maintained the pretence that he was someone else. His true identity was later confirmed when he was fingerprinted.

Okidi has a previous convictions for drink driving, driving whilst disqualified and failing to stop at the scene of an accident, as well as for a string of non-motoring offences.

He had originally denied drink driving, saying that the MG had been parked up in the cycle lane all night. This was contradicted by CCTV footage, which showed him arriving in the car earlier in the morning. In any event, he failed to attend for trial and was convicted in his absence.

Roshni Modi, mitigating, said her client had given a false name because he had panicked. She said her client was a "hard working" man, who worked selling and washing cars - although perhaps not for much longer.

She added: "Although he's fit to do unpaid work he feels unpaid work would be setting him up to fail due to his employment."

That being the case Okidi, via the medium of Ms Modi, expressed his preference for a standalone suspended sentence order.

This clearly got the back up of the Magistrates, with the Presiding Justice, Gareth Roberts, telling Okidi: "It's not up to you to suggest the sentence we give you. We're not here to work at your convenience, do I make myself clear?"

Disregarding Okidi's request, Magistrates sentenced him to an 18-month community order with 300 hours' unpaid work - a fairly hefty order, so there may have been some merit in the suggestion he was being "set up to fail".

He was also ordered to pay £620 towards prosecution costs and £114 surcharge.

Okidi was disqualified from driving for a period of 4 years.

Addressing Okidi before he left the courtroom, Mr Roberts said: "If you drive now you will be sent to prison."

Anyone wondering about the title to this post: It's pretty well known in court and police circles that a large number of drink drivers are caught "with the munchies" when they attend McDonald's drive thrus. I think McDonald's must have a company policy of reporting any driver they suspect of being under the influence.

Ipswich Man Had Stash of Sickening Images

An Ipswich man was found with more than 400 sickening images depicting child abuse and bestiality.

Gary Cary, 30, of Rapier Street, Ipswich, appeared at the town's Magistrates' Court on Friday, 6th December 2024.

He admitted three offences of making indecent images of children; one offence of possession of a prohibited image of a child; and one offence of possession of extreme pornographic images.

Making an indecent image of a child is an offence under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978. It is an either way offence with a maximum penalty of 10 years' custody on conviction on indictment, 12 months' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction.

However, it would appear that these images were "made" by virtue of being downloaded from the web, instead of produced "at source". That being the case the relevant sentencing guideline indicates the offence is to be considered as possession for the purposes of sentencing. That would give a starting point of 12 months' custody in the case of category A images, which is clearly aggravated by the number of images and additional offences.

Magistrates heard that Cary's collection contained 75 category A images; 85 category B images; and 133 category C images. He also downloaded 86 category A videos; 53 category B videos; and 30 category C videos.

Category A images involve penetrative sexual activity; category B images involve non-penetrative sexual activity; and category C images involve sexualised poses.

Some of the media downloaded by Cary featured children as young as 6 months' old.

Magistrates were of the view that their sentencing powers were insufficient to deal with Cary's crimes.

That being the case, he was granted conditional bail until his sentencing at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday, 3rd January 2025.

Bradford Man Jailed for Speeding Ticket Scam

A Bradford man has been jailed for orchestrating a speeding ticket scam.

Khuram Yaqoob, 35, of Westlands Drive, Bradford, admitted 25 offences of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. He was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months' custody at Bradford Crown Court on Tuesday, 3rd December 2024.

The court heard that police had cause to seize Yaqoob's phone in April 2019 in relation to other matters. On examining the device they discovered evidence of a so-called NIP farm.

The scam involved Yaqoob providing false names and addresses to drivers who received a notice of intended prosecution (NIP) in relation to speeding offences.

The false information, for which Yaqoob charged a fee, was then used in response to the notices, which meant the real drivers escaped prosecution.

Some paid up members to the scam were advised to nominate entirely innocent family members.

Fifteen other men were jailed earlier today for their participation in the scam:

• Qaiser Rehman, aged 31, of Woodside View, Bingley, sentenced to 14 months.
• Mohammed Macmour, aged 31, of Bentcliffe Drive, Leeds, sentenced to 12 months.
• Russell Bland, aged 46, of Waterwheel Rise, Huddersfield, sentenced to 11 months.
• Haroon Mushtaq, aged 28, of Woodland Crescent, Mixenden, sentenced to 10 months.
• Usman Suleman, aged 37, of Princeville Road, Bradford, sentenced to 10 months.
• Seth Mahmood, aged 26, of Alvanley Court, Bradford, sentenced to 10 months.
• Safyan Sarwar, aged 32, of Lindley Moor Road, Huddersfield, sentenced to 10 months.
• Ibrar Hussain, aged 28, of Bronshill Grove, Allerton, sentenced to 9 months.
• Waqas Hanif, aged 33, of Lilycroft Road, Bradford, sentenced to 9 months.
• Nosheen Ashraf, aged 31, of Rushton Road, Bradford, sentenced to 7 months.
• Mohammed Yunis, aged 28, of Chapel Lane, Allerton, sentenced to 7 months.
• Billy Thomas-Hopwood, aged 34, of Yewdall Way, Bradford, sentenced to 6 months.
• Idris Yousaf, aged 45, of Sycamore Avenue, Huddersfield, sentenced to 6 months.
• Shakeel Shazad, aged 32, of Church Street, Heckmondwike, sentenced to 6 months.
• Mohammed Bhatti, aged 26, of Grange Drive, Allerton, sentenced to 6 months.

Three others received suspended sentences:

• Shazad Ul Hamid, aged 46, of Emm Lane, Heaton, Bradford, sentenced to 8 months suspended for 2 years.
• Safina Iqbal, aged 34, of Scholes Street, Bankfoot, Bradford, sentenced to 6 months suspended for 2 years.
• Akib Mahmood, aged 30, of Wimborne Drive, Allerton, sentenced to 6 months suspended for 2 years.

Rachel Wainwright, of West Yorkshire Police's Prosecutions and Casualty Prevention Unit, said: "Yaqoob convinced his customers that they would be able to escape speeding offences by following his advice and sending him money.

"Instead, they have found themselves before the same court as him, where they have been dealt with for a serious offence.

"Speeding is a major factor in road traffic collisions in West Yorkshire, and it is only right that those who are caught speeding are dealt with in the proper way.

"Perverting the course of justice is a serious offence and I hope this outcome sends out a warning to anyone who thinks they can evade detection for offences committed on our roads."

This result should serve as a good reminder of the perils of trying to hoodwink the police or the court.

Further information about speeding offences in my earlier article.

Celebrity Thief Marco Pierre White Junior Spared Prison

Celebrity thief Marco Pierre White Junior has been spared prison, despite being branded a "professional criminal" by Magistrates.

White, 29, of Upper Church Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset was sentenced for two non-dwelling burglaries and a shop theft when he appeared at North Somerset Magistrates' Court on Monday, 29th November 2024.

Magistrates heard that the ex-reality TV star burgled the Behind Bars Body Piercing and Tattoo shop, just a stone's throw from his home address, on Thursday, 19th September 2024.

He stole electrical items and jewellery from the premises.

On Tuesday, 22nd October 2024 the recovering drug addict stole £149.20 worth of toys from Home Bargains on Winterstoke Road, Weston-super-Mare.

On Thursday, 24th October 2024, White burgled the Paw Paw Bubble Tea shop on Cheap Street, Weston-super-Mare, but left the premises empty-handed.

White has a litany of previous convictions, mainly for offences involving dishonesty and drugs.

Magistrates were of the opinion that his latest crime spree was so serious that only a custodial sentence was appropriate. However, presumably for reasons of drug rehabilitation, they have elected to suspend the custodial term.

White was sentenced to 30 weeks' custody suspended for 18 months, with a 9-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

He was also ordered to pay "a fine and costs" - whatever that means.

PC Joseph Reed of Avon and Somerset Police said: "Retail crime causes immense harm to our communities and we're committed to tackling these offences in all their forms.

"This defendant was spotted by a member of the public in the aftermath of the Weston-super-Mare burglary incident, which enabled officers to make a swift arrest. He's now been brought to justice for three offences within a short period of time."