DRIVING offences are the most common crimes to come before the court.

Whether it’s driving 35mph in a 30mph zone or undertaking on the A12, if you do it, you can end up before a judge.

Here are some of the drivers who have been before magistrates in the past few weeks receiving sentences for road traffic offences.

 

Terry Hull – drug drove a Land Rover Discovery

 

Before Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last week was Terry Hull, 38, who admitted driving a Land Rover Discovery without a licence or insurance.

When he was stopped by police in Main Road, Rettendon Common he was also found to have cocaine in his system.

He admitted the three offences, which he committed in April this year.

Hull, of Colchester Road, Heybridge, was banned from driving for three years and ordered to pay £235 in fines and costs.

 

Ryan Polkinghorne – undertook other vehicles on the A12 at 90mph

 

When Ryan Polkinghorne, 42, appeared before a district judge at Colchester Magistrates’ Court last week, he was keen to defend himself.

By his own calculations, Polkinghorne tried to claim police mistook the speed he was travelling at on the A12 in November 2021.

He denied one charge each of speeding and driving a car without due care and attention, and tried to argue the evidence the police had put forward actually proved he was driving at 70mph.

District Judge Christopher Williams was not impressed and found Polkinghorne, of Lexden Road, Colchester, guilty on both counts.

He was banned from driving for three months and ordered to pay £980 in costs.

 

David Clarke – drove a van down Dedham High Street whilst under the influence

 

David Clarke, 64, admitted his offence pretty much straight away when he came before magistrates at the start of this month.

He had driven a Fiat Fiorino down Dedham High Street whilst he was over the drink drive limit of 35mcg in 100ml of breath.

When he was breathalysed, officers found he had 53mcg in 100ml of breath.

Clarke, of John Ball Walk, Colchester, was banned from driving for one year and ordered to pay £253 in costs and fines.

 

Adam Henwood – failed to stop when he was drink driving in Surrey

 

When the police signal for you to pull over, you do it - after all, the chances of getting away are pretty much nil.

But Adam Henwood tried his luck last month when police tried to stop him on the A320 in Surrey.

Henwood, 42, was driving a Nissan Qashqai despite being over the alcohol limit and did not stop when required to do so by a police officer.

He had 58mcg in 100ml of breath when he was breathalysed.

He admitted one charge of drink driving and a second charge of failing to stop when he appeared before Staines Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.

He was banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay fines and costs of £1,118.

 

Selahattin Hos – takeaway owner who drove without due care and attention

 

Owner of Paragon Chicken, Selahattin Hos, 55, came before Colchester Magistrates’ Court earlier this month having previously denied one charge of driving without due care and attention.

The offence took place on the junction between Mersea Road and Napier Road, and although he initially denied any wrongdoing, he later changed his plea.

Hos, of Osborne Street, Colchester, was given six penalty points and ordered to pay £883 in fines and costs.

 

Eugene Renford – failed to provide specimen when required to police

 

Refusing a breathalyser is a criminal offence, as Eugene Renford, 52, learned in July.

He appeared before Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court last week where he admitted the charge and was banned from driving for one year and ten months as punishment.

Renford, of Compton Road, Colchester, was also ordered to carry out an alcohol treatment requirement for six months which will involve 30 days of rehabilitation activity.

He was also fined £120 and ordered to pay £284 in costs.

 

David Dyer – failed to give information about vehicle driver to police

 

David Dyer paid a heavy price this month for failing to provide Lincolnshire Police with information about a driver alleged to be guilty of an offence.

The defendant, 46, had been asked to give information about a Peugeot driver in June but failed to co-operate.

The case was heard in Dyer’s absence at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court earlier this month where the offence was proved.

Dyer, of Wilson Marriage Road, Colchester, was fined £660 and ordered to pay further costs of £374.

He also had six points put on his licence.

 

Marie Cattermole - failed to give information about vehicle driver to police

 

Coincidentally, Marie Cattermole, 34, was also charged with a driving offence in Lincolnshire, although her charge relates to a wrongdoing in August.

Cattermole had been driving a Mercedes when she was alleged to have committed a road traffic offence, but she never supplied details to police when asked to.

Magistrates in Lincoln found her guilty in absence last week and fined her £660.

Cattermole, of Axial Drive, Colchester, was also ordered to pay further costs of £374 and had six points put on her licence.

 

Richard Hine – broke 30mph speed limit in Suffolk driving his Volvo XC90

 

Appearing before Ipswich Magistrates’ Court last month, Richard Hine, 72, admitted one charge of breaking the 30mph speed limit in Tattingstone.

The defendant, of Rectory Hill, East Bergholt, was also charged with failing to provide information relating to a driver, but the offence was withdrawn.

He admitted a single charge of breaking the 30mph speed limit when he was driving on the A137 last year.

He was given three penalty points and ordered to pay costs of £202, and a £230 fine.

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