A man on a suspended sentence has been jailed after being stopped in New Hedges for drink driving.
Thirty-one-year-old Louis Davies, of Emblem Close, Caerau, Cardiff, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to driving his Ford Transit van on the A487 after exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit. He also admitted charges of driving a motor vehicle otherwise in accordance with a licence; and without third party insurance.
Mr. Davies, who was due to appear for a court hearing last week in Haverfordwest, was also charged with bail act offences after he left the premises without seeking the court’s permission before the hearing took place.
Prosecutor Abul Hussain told the court that during the early hours of September 1, police officers on mobile patrol in Tenby noticed the defendant travelling in his transit van along Crackwell Street, before following him into Narberth Road and pulling him over as his vehicle’s rear positional light was not showing.
“The driver had an open can of lager on the dashboard, and when asked if he’d been drinking by officers, he said that he’d had approximately two cans about two hours ago.
“A roadside breathalyser test proved positive and after he was arrested, Mr. Davies provided a reading of 45 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath at the police station.
“Further checks on the vehicle showed that the defendant’s provisional licence had expired and that he had no insurance.
“He has 11 convictions for 31 previous offences, and motoring offences on record, including failing to provide a specimen for analysis in 2014, and similar convictions for driving with no licence and insurance. Last year he was given a community order for breaking a restraining order, and is subject to a suspended term of imprisonment, therefore in breach of this,” continued Mr. Hussain.
Addressing magistrates himself, Mr. Davies said that he had left the court the week previously as he took a phone call whilst he was at the premises from his brother, to tell him that his grandfather had passed away.
Magistrates activated the suspended prison sentence and added a further six weeks for the bail act offence, and four weeks for the drink driving charge, handing Mr. Davies 14 weeks in custody in total.
He was also given a 38 month driving disqualification and ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £150.