AN unlicensed driver caught at the wheel of a car bearing false registration plates for the third time risked triggering a previously suspended prison sentence, a court heard.
Andrew Sheard was fined £296 with £85 costs at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court after the then 29-year-old defendant, of Ludworth, near Durham, admitted driving while using fraudulent registration, not in accordance with the licence and without insurance, in October 2019.
But he was back at court in November when he admitted the same offences, committed on May 26, last year, for which he received an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a six-month driving ban.
The now 32-year-old defendant, of Wordsworth Avenue, Houghton-le-Spring, appeared before Newcastle Crown Court today (Tuesday March 8), having been committed for sentence by the magistrates for exactly the same trio of offences, for the third time in under three years.
Oliver Connor, prosecuting, said the magistrates appear to have sent the case for sentence at the crown court because of the “persistence” of the offending.
Mr Connor said Sheard was stopped while driving a Ford Focus on the A182 in the Houghton-le-Spring area, shortly before 5pm on June 30.
A patrol car officer noticed the bogus registration plates and contacted the police computer to discover the driver had no valid insurance.
Sheard was pulled over and made full admissions.
Mr Connor said there was no suggestion the defendant was using the false plates for any other criminal purpose.
Recorder Mark Giuliani asked why both of the last two convictions were not dealt with together at the November hearing.
He was told there appeared to have been an oversight and the defendant only received postal requisition to appear at court for the June offences on the day of the November hearing.
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Katie Spence, for Sheard, said he was not a legally trained person and would have been unaware he should raise the further matter.
But she claimed he may not have received any different sentence had he been dealt with for both the May and June offences at the same time.
“I believe with the May matters he wasn’t in a good place and was on the way to the house of a friend who was feeding him at the time.”
Miss Spence said Sheard used the false registration plate purely to avoid detection for not having a full driving licence.
“As has been pointed out, as soon as he was pulled over he admitted he shouldn’t have been driving.
“He regrets committing them and considers they were ridiculous.”
But she added that he has worked well with the Probation Service since the offence.
Recorder Giuliani said the defendant did not seem to “learn his lesson” after the initial offence, but as he has made good progress with the Probation Service he would take no further action, other than add a four-month 7pm to 7am home curfew as part of a one-year community order for the latest offence.
Sheard was also given a one-year driving ban under the totting up procedure.
The Recorder added that the suspended sentence passed in November, will, however, remain in place for the remainder of the 18-month period.
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