Disqualified drug-driver caught behind the wheel again - just one month after last offence
The latest court cases from South Tyneside Magistrates’.
A new prosecutor suffered déjà vu when the first defendant she came up against in court appeared again before her in South Tyneside – just six weeks later.
Mariam Odetoro told borough magistrates she clearly remembered Mohammad Alyounis, 23, because of the significance of his hearing to her.
She had helped convict Alyounis, of John Williamson Street, near Tyne Dock, of two counts of drug driving on Wednesday, June 3.
His guilty pleas to driving with cocaine and its breakdown product BZE in his system, and careless driving, committed in December last year, had led to a two-year driving ban.
But Alyounis failed to heed the court’s warning on that occasion not to drive until his ban was finished by getting behind the wheel within a month.
Police caught him driving a Ford Focus on the A194 Leam Lane at Hebburn in the early hours of Sunday, June 28, the court was told.
Ms Odetoro said: “At around 4.30am, police officers stopped the defendant’s vehicle after a report of a driver potentially under the influence.
“He has been seen leaving a casino in Newcastle city centre and was followed at the Whitemare Pool roundabout and stopped on the A194.
“During his engagement with police, the defendant tried to run away but he fell and was stopped.
“Further checks revealed that he was disqualified. That was my first time in court, I remember.
“He has one previous conviction which led to the 24-month disqualification. That is the aggravating feature.”
Alyounis pleaded guilty to charges of driving while disqualified and driving without insurance.
David Forrester, defending, said: “I’ve told him today that he gets closer and closer to prison every time he does something like this.
“This is now two offences in a month. If you keep driving while you are disqualified, you will end up in prison. The car is now gone, that’s the best thing for it.
“He is a carer for his brother and was asked to go to Newcastle to pick someone up who wasn’t well.”
Magistrates sentenced Alyounis to a 12-month community order, with 10 rehabilitation days, and fined him £120, with a £114 victim surcharge and £85 court costs.
They handed him a fresh eight-month driving ban, taking his new disqualification tally to 31 months.