Drink-driver, 34, refused to stop in police pursuit
A DRINK-DRIVER led police on a chase after refusing to pull over for them.
Dale Murphy was spotted by officers on patrol in Lockwood at 7pm on July 7.
Prosecutor Vanessa Jones told Kirklees magistrates: “They saw him on Swan Lane and indicated at him to stop but he ignored this request.
“There was a short pursuit and they lost him after a couple of minutes.
“But members of the public helped and his whereabouts were traced.”
The officers tracked the 34-year-old down at Keat Street in Crosland Moor where he lives.
They saw Murphy getting out of the car and dropping his keys.
He’d admitted to having a couple of drinks and was arrested after providing a positive roadside breath test.
Further tests showed that he had 41 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
Magistrates were told that in 2013 Murphy was banned from driving for two years.
He was still a disqualified driver as he was yet to pass the required extended test
Murphy pleaded guilty to driving while over the prescribed limit, failing to stop, driving whilst disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance.
Zara Begum, mitigating, said: “Mr Murphy didn’t appreciate that the disqualification still stood until he passed a test.
“In 2018 he was back in court for (driving with) no insurance and no licence and thought it was dealt with by a ban at the time.”
She told magistrates that Murphy has an issue with alcohol.
They agreed to adjourn his case so he can be assessed for possible alcohol treatment prior to his sentencing.
This will take place on August 8 and he was banned from driving in the interim.