Driving Whilst Disqualified: A Case Study

When we took a telephone call recently from Marlon Billson, we recognised his name immediately. This was because just four months ago – in November 2015 – Marlon had been in court for a drink driving offence, which he pleaded guilty to and was subsequently sentenced to a disqualification of two years.

Marlon, who had no previous drink driving offences at that time, had been very remorseful and assured us that he fully understood that he was not to drive during his disqualification period. Forrest Williams made him aware that to do so would be a serious offence, with a custodial risk.

However, as a result of a situation at work, Marlon made the fateful decision to borrow a friend’s vehicle and collect some building supplies from an empty property which was due to be tenanted the next day. He was stopped by the police as the vehicle he was driving came up as having no MOT. He immediately admitted to the police that he was a disqualified driver and, as such, was not insured to drive the vehicle.

Marlon was charged with three offences – driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance and driving a vehicle with no MOT certificate.

When he called us, he was aware that there was a custodial risk and he was very worried about this.

He instructed us to act for him and was supported through the process of preparing for the court hearing by Tracy Johnson, the same case worker he had worked with just a few months ago. Marlon told us that he found this continuity reassuring.

Once again, Marlon was represented at the hearing by a specialist motoring law barrister, who mitigated on his behalf.

His barrister explained to the court that, whilst it was no excuse for him driving whilst disqualified, Marlon’s regular driver had been on holiday abroad and he had been without a driver when the offences took place.

Marlon’s barrister assured the court that this was a single occurrence and that it would not happen again. Marlon had, in fact, put in place a system whereby he had a driver to call on at any time.

Due to the thorough preparation of Marlon’s case by Forrest Williams, together with the skilful representation of his interests in the court room, a custodial sentence was avoided. Marlon was, instead, ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work and his licence was endorsed with 6 points for the no insurance offence. Financial penalties were also imposed.

Considering what might have happened at the hearing, Marlon was very relieved and will, in future, abide by the order of the court not to drive whilst disqualified. 

Here at Forrest Williams we understand that good people can make mistakes.  If you need a dedicated legal team, call us now on 01623 397200.

Tags: case studies