Banned Bassetlaw driver (78) risked jail by leaving after an accident
A 78-year-old Bassetlaw driver who “flagrantly disregarded” court orders by refusing to give his details after an accident was told it is “exceptionally likely” he will be jailed if he re-offends.
Adrian Collins was uninsured and disqualified when he reversed into a BMW on Grove Street, Retford, and failed to exchange details with the owner at 3.30pm on June 4, said prosecutor Grace Turner.
On June 16, he received an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and a disqualification for driving without insurance and while disqualified.
But he was stopped behind the wheel of a Landrover Freelander on Armthorpe Road, Doncaster, on August 5.
The court heard he has 35 previous convictions.
Megan Wright, mitigating, said Collins deserved credit for his guilty plea, is “genuinely remorseful,” and “utterly sorry.”
There was no damage and he wrongly assumed he didn't have to exchange details, she said.
“He had to take his wife to the hospital in Doncaster,” she said. “It was an emergency because of her deteriorating condition. He fully recognises he should have sought alternative arrangements.
“This isn't behaviour that is likely to be repeated. He will not drive again. He doesn’t intend to be in this situation again.”
She said he has breathing and mobility issues and custody would impact on his partner for whom he is the full time carer.
Collins, of Neatholme Lane, Lound, Retford, admitted failing to stop after an accident, and two counts of driving while disqualified and without insurance, at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Tuesday, November 4.
His suspended sentence was extended for 12 months. He was fined £480, with a £192 surcharge and £85 costs. He was banned for 26 months.