Banned motorist caught at the wheel after driving just 100m
A banned motorist was caught at the wheel of a cannabis-smoking friend’s car by armed police in Sunderland after driving just 100m.
Aaron Warrener, 24, and his pal were homeless and sleepingintheAudiwhenthey decided to pop for water at a garage at The Broadway, High Barnes.
But their 1.15am jaunt on Sunday,January31,endedwith Warrener’s arrest when officersinamarkedBMWX5pulled them over in Chester Road.
Warrener,ofHendonClose, Hendon, Sunderland, was 20 days short of finishing a oneyear ban for aggravated vehicletaking,magistratesinSouth
Tyneside heard.
Thejoblesscareworkerhas nowbeenhitwithafreshthreemonth driving ban and must carry out 165 hours of unpaid work.
Prosecutor Leanne Duffy said: “Officers were on duty andtravellingalongSpringwell Road, when they observed an Audi A3 travelling in the opposite direction.
“The car contained two young male occupants, and the police stopped the vehicle. Checks showed the defendant was disqualified.”
ThecourtwastoldWarrenerwasbannedfor12monthson February19lastyearfortaking a vehicle without consent.
Greg Flaxen, defending, said: “He was, unfortunately, disqualified from driving.
“He was still serving that disqualification for 20 more
days until it was completed.
“He was homeless at the time. He and a friend were
sleeping in the Greggs car park on The Broadway, and they weredrivingtoapetrolstation,
it was a matter of metres.
“His friend had smoked cannabis to help him sleep,
MrWarrenerhadnotandthere were two police officers who were happy this was the case.
“He drove the vehicle, and that was a poor decision, but there was no evidence of poor driving
“It’s just two young men in a car at night and that’s the reasontheyhavebeenpulled.It was a short distance, they just wanted some water.”
Warrener pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.
Magistrates revoked his existing community order for his driving ban offence and imposed a new 18-month order.
It has a requirement of 15 days of rehabilitation work with the Probation Service, and he must pay a £95 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.