South Shields man caught driving for the tenth time after being banned

A South Tyneside heroin addict has become a double digit driving offender - by being caught at the wheel for a tenth time while banned.

Police stopped lawbreaker Alan Reed, 57, as he drove a Suzuki car on the A194 Leam Lane, near Jarrow, on Friday July 28.

Checks showed Reed, of Eglesfield Road, Chichester, South Shields, had been disqualified for 18 months by Newcastle Crown Court less than a year earlier.

It came as part of a sentencing hearing at which he was also jailed for 21 months for motoring and other offences.

Even at the end of his ban, the court ruled he is not allowed to automatically drive and must first pass a new roads’ test.

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His latest downfall at the hands of police came due to him driving a car insured only to a female motorist.

Prosecutor Jessica Singh said: “Officers were travelling in an unmarked police vehicle when they conducted checks on the vehicle in front of them.

“The vehicle was insured to a female. As a result, the defendant was pulled over. He said he had borrowed the car from a friend.

“He was disqualified until test passed by Newcastle Crown Court on July 4, 2022.”

Reed pleaded guilty to charges of driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.

The court heard he has 29 previous criminal convictions from 79 offences, nine being for driving while disqualified.

David Forrester, defending, said: “This gentleman suffers quite severely from a heroin addiction.

“He is desperately in need of supervision. He is 57 years old, and he is rattling at this time.”

The Probation Service told the hearing Reed’s compliance with his supervision requirements following his prison release was “not fantastic”.

In fact, it was so poor he had been in breach of his order for which he had been punished with a 20-day curfew, it was said.

Magistrates adjourned the case for reports and granted Reed unconditional bail to be sentenced at the same court on Tuesday, October 10.