A Cheshire man has been jailed for driving away from court moments after he was disqualified from doing so.
Ryan Tuckman, 29, of Saltersbrook Grove, Wilmslow, was convicted of two offences of drug driving when he appeared at Crewe Magistrates' Court on Thursday, 28th July 2022.
The bench also disqualified him from driving for a period of 40 months.
But the moment he left the court building, Tuckman jumped into his Honda Accord and set off driving the 20-mile journey home.
Unfortunately for him, barely a mile into his journey he was pulled over by the police. Enquiries were made and it transpired that Tuckman had been disqualified earlier that day. A search of his vehicle also uncovered a small amount of cannabis.
Tuckman appeared back before the court in custody the following day, where he admitted charges of driving whilst disqualified and possession of cannabis.
Given his flagrant disregard for court orders, the bench on that occasion had no difficulty sentencing him to 8 weeks' custody.
He was also ordered to pay £154 surcharge, £85 towards prosecution costs and disqualified from driving for a period of 48 months.
Sergeant Ian Smith, of Cheshire Constabulary's Roads and Crime Unit, said: "Tuckman knew he had been disqualified from driving yet still drove to court on the day he was due to be banned and brazenly got back into it to drive home.
"He clearly thought that his chances of being stopped by an officer were low and that he would get away with it.
"This should serve as a warning to other motorists who believe that they can get behind the wheel of a vehicle while disqualified because not only is it against the law but officers can be anywhere, at any time meaning you are likely to also be caught."
Whenever a defendant is disqualified from driving, the situation is always made abundantly clear to them. There is variation in the wording, but most Presiding Justices say something along the lines of: "You are now disqualified from driving. From this moment, until the end of the disqualification period, you must not drive any vehicle on a road or public place. Driving whilst disqualified is a serious offence and one that you can be imprisoned for. Do you understand?"
Shocking as this story sounds, it probably happens more often than people would believe. I have certainly sat on a bench that disqualified a driver who made it crystal clear that he fully intended to go and collect his daughter from nursery as normal.
In that case I asked the legal advisor to get a message to the security guards on the door to see if he had been foolish enough to park his car within sight. Alas he hadn't, but the vehicle may well have been just around the corner.
It is an unfortunate fact that we see people before the court who have multiple previous convictions for driving whilst disqualified. Of course by definition a disqualified driver has no insurance either, which creates even further risk to the honest majority driving around legally.
Frustrating is the word.
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