A local TV engineer has been handed a community order after being caught driving whilst disqualified.
Sixty-four-year-old Carl French, of Ludchurch, appeared at Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday, to admit a charge of driving whilst disqualified; and using a motor vehicle on a public road without third party insurance.
Prosecutor Vaughan Pritchard-Jones told the court that Mr. French was stopped in his Vauxhall Vivaro vehicle on December 18 on Narberth High Street.
“He was disqualified from driving for three years back in April 2016 for drink driving, and had a previous conviction for a similar offence in 2011.
“He was stopped by a police officer at 12.40 pm and told the officer he was going to work, and was insured, which is clearly a concern as that suggests he has been driving on a regular basis.
“Mr. French seemed to think that his driving ban had been reduced and was up, but when asked if he’d completed the ‘drink-drive rehabilitation course’ he said no,” continued Mr. Pritchard-Jones.
Defence solicitor Jonathan Webb told the court that a ‘complete mix-up’ had led his client back to court as his elderly mum who now lived with him, had been looking after his paperwork, and he hadn’t read the details of the dates when the disqualification was up properly.
“He is a TV engineer and has a big white van with his name emblazoned all over the vehicle, so he wasn’t trying to hide anything. The officer that stopped Mr. French knows him. It is an error in essence that has led him back to court.
“He hasn’t been driving around breaking his disqualification, he has been paying people to drive him around, which has affected his income.
“Mr. French has worked all his life as a TV engineer, working for local caravan sites, and also as a sub contractor for the local authority. He is well respected in local society.
“He was banned for drink-driving at a time in his life when things got on top of him as he had a scare with his prostate and his wife of a number of years left him.
“Not being able to get around has affected him hugely, but if he can get back to work and sort his financial plight out, then all his problems can go away.
‘“Mr. French knows he has messed up, but if you consider a custodial sentence - then he loses his house, his mum would be homeless and he’d be in jail,” added Mr. Webb.
Magistrates told Mr. French that this was a very serious offence before handing him a community order with 100 hours of unpaid work to carry out.
He was handed six penalty points for driving whilst disqualified, and eight points for driving with no insurance.
On top of that he was also fined £156 for driving with no insurance and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and an £85 victim surcharge.