Jail for banned Kirkby drink driver caught twice at the wheel on same street
A banned drink driver from Kirkby who was caught behind the wheel twice on the same street in the same month has been jailed.
Police officers noticed the smell of cannabis coming from Mark McCarthy’s vehicle as they passed him at a speed bump on Diamond Avenue, on April 12, said Declan Austin, prosecuting.
They spotted him get into the back seat of the car while his passenger climbed into the driver’s seat. A breath test revealed 55 microgrammes of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
He was pulled over on the same road 17 days later for driving without a licence and while disqualified.
The court heard he has 17 previous convictions for 40 offences. He received an 18 month ban for drink driving, in 2019, and was jailed for 12 months in 2020 for dangerous driving.
On that occasion he was banned until he passes an extended re-test.
He received a community order last year for driving while disqualified, which the new offences breach.
Ryan Higginbotham, mitigating, said McCarthy was hoping to regain his licence in order to get himself back into work.
He is unable to work as a joiner following an accident which requires physiotherapy, he added.
McCarthy, 39, of Wollaton Road, admitted drink driving, driving while disqualified, without insurance, and breaching a community order, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Tuesday.
"You don’t appear to have learned anything from working with the probation service,” the presiding magistrate told him.
He received 26 weeks in prison and was disqualified from driving for 40 months. He was ordered to pay £170 costs and a £154 surcharge.