Speeding M40 drug driver jailed - The Leamington Observer

Speeding M40 drug driver jailed

Leamington Editorial 20th Aug, 2015 Updated: 28th Oct, 2016   0

A DRUG user has been jailed after driving at high speeds near Warwick under the influence of cocaine.

Ben Hawkins was sentenced at Leamington Magistrates after being spotted speeding on the M40 near the Longbridge roundabout.

The 29-year-old, of Brickfield Lane in Shipston, was stopped by traffic officers on April 15 where a roadside drugs test proved positive for cannabis. He was arrested and provided a blood sample which found he had also taken cocaine before driving. 

Hawkins failed to appear in court but was arrested at his home and brought before magistrates.




He was jailed for 16 weeks, banned from driving for two years, and ordered to pay £700 costs.

A police spokesman said: “The severity of this sentence, plus the steps taken to ensure the defendant appeared before the magistrates serves only to underline how seriously Warwickshire Police, as well as the courts, view poor driving, which in this case was made all the more serious by the presence of drugs in the defendant’s blood.”


“Hawkins failed to appear at court, but contacted the court during the hearing to state he was not able to make the appearance.

“Upon viewing the in car video of the man’s poor driving, magistrates decided the charges were of sufficient importance to dispatch police to Hawkins’s house immediately, where he was arrested and presented before the court.

“Our officers are patrolling 24 hours a day in both marked and unmarked cars and will robustly act to ensure we protect road users from harm.”

 

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