Double dope driver given three-year ban

A drug driver was caught on the A259 main seafront road twice in three weeks under the influence of cannabis.

Dope driver Joseph Zack Coleman, 22, pleaded guilty to two offences of having had about three times the legally permitted amount of cannabis when behind the wheel.

He was given a three-year ban at Brighton Magistrates’ Court and landed with a bill for £686 after being fined and ordered to pay prosecution costs and a victim surcharge.

He was caught in King’s Road, Brighton, on Saturday 29 December at the wheel of a white Suzuki.

And he was arrested further east along the A259 – in South Coast Road in Peacehaven – on Thursday 17 January in the same Suzuki.

Another dope driver, 36-year-old Gavin Stevens, admitted having had almost five times the permitted amount of cannabis when he was arrested in West Street, Brighton.

Stevens, who lives on a caravan site in Cemetery Lane, Emsworth, Hampshire, was driving a silver Ford Fiesta when he was stopped on Friday 29 March.

He was given a one-year driving ban at Brighton Magistrates’ Court and fined £329. He was also ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £32 victim surcharge, making £446 in total.

Another drug driver appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on the same day – Thursday 18 July – after being caught in Queen’s Road, Brighton.

David Higgins, 41, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to driving a green Renault Megane after having had cocaine.

When he was arrested – on Saturday 12 January – he was also found to have crack cocaine and cannabis with him.

Higgins was banned from driving for a year, fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £30 victim surcharge, making £235 in total.

Two other drivers who had had cocaine were banned when they were brought before the bench in Brighton on Thursday 8 August.

Dale Miles, also known as Del Miles, 47, of Station Road, Portslade, was caught on the A259 at the wheel of a silver Volkswagen Polo on Monday 11 March.

Miles pleaded guilty to drug driving and was banned for 40 months, fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £30 victim surcharge, making £235 in total.

Brighton Magistrates’ Court

James Dickens, 36, of Birdham Road, Moulsecoomb, admitted driving a black Renault Megane under the influence of cocaine in Lewes Road, Brighton, on Friday 15 February.

He was banned for three years, fined £100 and ordered to £85 prosecution costs and a £30 victim surcharge, making £215 in total.

Terry Skinner, 29, a cleaner, of Storrington Close, Hove, was arrested at his Hangleton home in June and charged with drink driving in a black Vauxhall Astra on the A27 at Patcham.

Skinner, who admitted having 95 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of his blood, was given a one-year driving ban at Brighton Magistrates’ Court.

He was ordered to pay a £360 fine, £85 costs and a £36 victim surcharge, making £481 in total.

Skinner had 15 hours of unpaid work added to the 40 hours that he had already been ordered to carry out when sentenced last September for assault and criminal damage.

He admitted breaching a suspended sentence and could still be jailed for 16 weeks if he re-offends in the next two years.

The suspended sentence was imposed after a prolonged attack on Beth Donoghue. He admitted beating her and damaging her mobile phone.

As well as a restraining order, to prevent him from seeing her, he is also banned from Grange Road, Southwick.

Jason Harris, 29, of Bexhill Road, Woodingdean, also appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 8 August.

Harris admitted drink driving in Lewes Road, Brighton, in a yellow VW Golf on Friday 19 July.

He had 57 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit is 35 micrograms.

Harris was banned for three years, fined £120 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £32 victim surcharge.

The bench also fined him £120 for driving with no insurance, making £357 in total.

Danny Drew, 28, of Fitzherbert Drive, Brighton, was caught drink driving in Vines Cross Road, in Whitehawk, on Thursday 18 July.

Drew, who was behind the wheel of a grey Mazda, had 46 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath. He pleaded guilty to drink driving and to driving without insurance.

He was banned for 14 months, fined £160 and ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £32 victim surcharge, making £277 in total.

Meagan Kentsley, 23, of High Street, Hurstpierpoint, admitted drink driving in a gold Renault Megane in Western Road, Brighton, on Friday 19 July.

Kentsley also appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 8 August. She was found to have 58 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

The bench banned her from driving for a year, fined her £300 and ordered her to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £32 victim surcharge, making £417 in total.

John Walsh, 38, a maintenance employee, of Dewe Road, Brighton, was arrested in The Avenue, Brighton, on Friday 30 June.

He pleaded guilty to drink driving in a Nissan with 53 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 18 July, he was banned from the road for 15 months.

He was also ordered to pay a £329 fine, £85 costs and a £32 victim surcharge, making £446 in total.

Clayton Lyon, 44, of Henrys Avenue, Woodford Green, in north east London, was given a driving ban by the bench in Brighton on the same day.

Lyon was caught driving a grey BMW on the corner of St James’s Street and Lavender Street, in Brighton, with 86 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of his breath.

He pleaded guilty to drink driving on Friday 23 June and was given a 20-month ban.

The court fined him £581 and ordered him to pay £85 prosecution costs and a £58 victim surcharge, making £724 in total.

Stichia Hindes was banned from driving for a year after she admitted failing to take a breath test when required.

Hindes, 48, of Lustrells Close, Saltdean, was arrested on suspicion of drink driving on Saturday 17 June.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 18 July she was ordered to carry out 15 days of rehabilitation activity.

She was also ordered to pay a £50 fine, £85 prosecution costs and a £50 victim surcharge, making £185 in total.