Passenger banned from driving for refusing breath test

Jerone Livick Varcianna, 28, was in the back seat of an Audi when it was pulled over by police at Sherwood Oaks Business Park on the edge of Mansfield.

Two other men in the vehicle both took breath tests and passed, but Varcianna refused, leading him to be charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis.

Admitting the charge at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court, it was heard how Varcianna had been in a the car which had been brought to the attention of police while it was in Mansfield town centre.

Officers had been attending an unrelated incident on Church Side before 3am on August 20 when the Audi drove by and close to one of the constables, prompting her to call for the car to be pulled over.

Once the car had been stopped, Varcianna, of Moor Street, Netherfield, refused to give a breath test and was taken to Mansfield Police Station, where he again would not co-operate.

During the hearing a probation report suggested that he had been the victim of an assault and sustained an injury to his mouth so was unable to give a breath test, although he simply refused at the time.

He admitted he had drunk one pint of lager earlier in the night.

Mitigating, Yvonne Wragg said: “Unfortunately, he was not the driver and his ignorance with the law has landed him in trouble.

“He got out the back of the car so that’s why he refused to give a sample.”

He was banned from driving for 18 months, and made to pay £170 in costs.

He was also given a community order with four weeks’ electronic tag curfew for committing an offence while already being subject to a conditional discharge for possession of cannabis.