Mansfield man could have avoided 17-month driving ban with proper legal advice
A Mansfield man who refused to take a breathalyser test may have avoided a driving ban if he had proper legal advice at the police station, a court heard.
Mansfield Magistrates’ Court heard Richard Waterfall was arrested on suspicion of drink -driving while visiting a friend in Grove Street, Mansfield Woodhouse, on August 20.
Lottie Tyler, prosecuting, said that at the police station he told officers ‘he didn't give a f***’ and said he was schizophrenic when they asked him if he had a medical reason for refusing.
The court heard he has 28 previous convictions for 42 offences, including two for drink-driving, and was last banned for three years in 2007.
At the time of the offence he was subject to a community order, imposed in June, for assaulting an emergency worker.
Waterfall, aged 49, of Lake Avenue, Mansfield, admitted failing to provide a specimen for analysis.
Pars Samrai, mitigating, said: “He is now rueing the fact he didn’t cooperate. If he had he probably wouldn't have been charged.
“He drove to Grove Street and then consumed alcohol with a friend.”
The court heard Waterfall has a history of anxiety and depression, and is on new medication which makes him irritable and verbally aggressive.
He was given an 18-month community order and must participate in a thinking skills course, as well as being fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.
He was banned from driving for 17 months, but a rehabilitation course will reduce the disqualification by 17 weeks if he completes it before September 19, 2023.