A Nottingham man caught drug-driving just hours before his sentencing for the same offence has been banned from the roads until 2028.
Nigel Beresford tested positive for cocaine and cannabis after being stopped by officers in Lenton Boulevard in the early hours of 11 October.
Following his arrest, at a BP service station, it emerged the 37-year-old was due at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court later that day having been caught drug-driving in Derby Road, Nottingham city centre, on 28 August.
The court appearance went ahead and Beresford, of Nottingham was disqualified for 12 months and fined £120 after pleading guilty to driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug, namely cocaine, above the specified limit.
He was told he faced further action in relation to his offending earlier that morning at a later court appearance. He was bailed with conditions, including that he must not sit in the driver’s seat of any vehicle.
On 7 December, he was arrested again having been caught breaching that condition. Officers spotted him in the driver’s seat of a Silver Peugeot with the engine running in Aspley Lane, Aspley.
He refused to take a drugs test and so was charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
Due to the persistent nature of his offending, Beresford was remanded into custody ahead of his next appearance at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court, which took place on 19 December.
He pleaded guilty to two counts driving with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit (cocaine and cannabis) in relation to his arrest on 11 October, as well as failing to provide a specimen for analysis on 7 December.
He was jailed for 16 weeks, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for four years and two months.
Beresford must also pay a £154 victim surcharge, £85 costs and attend a rehabilitation activity programme.
PC Dan Bird, of the Radford Road Response team and who oversaw the investigation, said: “Beresford has shown a glaring disregard for the law and safety of road users. I am therefore pleased he has received such a lengthy ban and is facing the very real prospect of going to prison should he commit any further offences.
“I want drug users to know that if they get behind a wheel, there is a very strong possibility they will get caught. Drug driving has absolutely devastating consequences, and more often than not, it’s people who are completely innocent that get caught in the firing line.
“We want to send the message out there that if people drive under the influence of drugs, we will pursue you. It is our mission to make the roads as safe as can be.
“As a local response team, we also encourage people to report drug drivers to us and we then take the appropriate action. We want to get drug drivers banned and off the roads.”
• Newark: Five boys aged between 14 and 16 arrested on suspicion of rape
