Man had no idea he was banned from driving, court is told

A MAN who had 'absolutely no idea' he had been banned from driving, has been fined by magistrates at Boston after being found driving his Mercedes.
Man had no idea he had driving banMan had no idea he had driving ban
Man had no idea he had driving ban

The court heard that Constantin Luca, 23, of Willoughby Road, who admitted the offence as well as driving without insurance or a test certificate, had been banned in his absence for 12 months under the totting up procedure on December 13 but when he was stopped on December 28, he had not received any letter telling him he had been banned and the court would probably 'not have even got the sentence letter out by that date'.

Jim Clare, prosecuting, said he was stopped by police at 5pm after they saw him on the forecourt of the Esso garage in John Adams Way and followed him in his car and stopped him in Rowley Road.

He said Luca told them he was not aware he had been banned.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mitigating, Philippa Chatterton said Luca had moved house but the new occupants had been forwarding his mail but, although he was aware of the court proceedings, he had not received any notification of the sentence by the time he was stopped.

“Indeed, he has only just got notice of the fine,” she said. “He had absolutely no idea of his driving ban.”

She said driving while disqualified was an 'absolute offence' and he now knew he was banned until December and had scrapped the car.

The magistrates fined him a total of £500 and ordered him to pay £117 in court costs and charges but did not add to his disqualification period.