Kirkby drink driver jailed for SIXTH offence

A banned Kirkby driver has been jailed after he was caught over the limit for the sixth time while carrying drugs, a court heard.
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Christopher Henshaw’s car was stopped on Beulah Road, Kirkby, at 9.05pm, on November 22, said prosecutor Donna Fawcett.

Officers found he was banned, had no insurance, and was carrying a small amount of cannabis.

He told police he’d had three pints of Fosters in a pub, and a test revealed he had 76 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of alcohol when the legal limit is 35 mcgs.

The court heard this was Henshaw’s sixth drink-driving offence, and his seventh for driving while disqualified.

He was jailed in 2015 for causing injury by dangerous driving, following convictions in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2009.

Morgan Hogarth, mitigating, said Henshaw had bought the car to make some money for Christmas, but had been “intimidated by his uncle”.

“Community orders are more effective than short prison sentences and the longer one from 2015,” he added.

Probation officer Sarah Alderton said at the time Henshaw “didn’t feel he was over the legal limit but was fully aware that he was banned.”

“He doesn’t view his alcohol use as problematic and there clearly are flaws in his thinking skills,” she added.

The offences were committed two months after a supervision period ended following his release from prison, and he had previously been recalled for a domestic offence, the court heard.

Henshaw, 36, of Fishers Street, admitted driving while disqualified, while uninsured and while over the limit, as well as possession of the Class B drug, when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Wednesday.

District judge Jonathan Taaffe told him Henshaw he had “a cavalier attitude towards road traffic legislation.”

“My public duty is to say people who give little regard to their legal responsibilities run the risk of going to prison,” he said.

Henshaw was jailed for 18 weeks.

He was banned for three years and nine weeks. No costs or compensation were ordered, but he must pay a £115 government surcharge.