A sofa-surfing carpenter who drove while disqualified for a second time has been warned he faces jail time if he does it again.
Ross Bourn came to the attention of the police in November last year while at the wheel of his Ford Mondeo in Gillingham.
As the 42-year-old approached a roundabout in Yokosuka Way, he failed to slow down, prompting an officer to check their systems to see if he was legal to drive.
However, not only did they find out he was banned from the road but they also discovered there was no insurance for him to drive the vehicle.
They pulled Bourn over who acknowledged the fact he didn’t have insurance but said he was unaware he was banned.
He was later charged with driving while disqualified and without insurance and admitted both offences when he appeared in the dock at Medway Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (July 1), and gave a care-of address as Kitchener Road, Strood.
Terry Knox, prosecuting, said: “He was banned as a totter on September 4 2024 for 24 months and is banned until September 2026.
“But he was seen driving his own vehicle on November 26 and he would have known about the court appearance (when he was banned), but didn’t attend.”
The totting up system refers to the process where a driver accumulates 12 or more penalty points on their licence within a three-year period, which leads to a mandatory ban of six months or more.
The prosecutor added: “In 2017, he was convicted of similar offences, that is driving while disqualified and no insurance, and he had to do unpaid work (as well as being banned).
“On this occasion, it was slightly poor driving.
“He was seen taking the roundabout on Yokosuka Way in Gillingham, but he merged into the roundabout without slowing down and that made the officer check [the system] and he was stopped.
“He denied knowing he was disqualified but accepted he had no insurance.”
In this country, if a motorist is disqualified from driving twice within a 10-year period, they face a minimum mandatory driving disqualification of three years.
Paul Ruse, defending, told the court his client didn’t really have a permanent address, and as a result, he wasn’t checking his mail as he should.
Mr Ruse added: “He separated from his partner a year ago and moved out of the family home and has been sofa-surfing since.
“He uses his sister’s address as a care-of address, and his mail goes there. He does check it, but unfortunately, not regularly.
“The insurance, that broke down about a year ago, but the totting was last year, he was unaware a ban was imposed and issued by the court.
“There have been large periods of time that he’s not been offending with driving, and he entered his guilty pleas early, so he should get maximum credit.
“Perhaps he could be punished by a low-level community order.
“He’s a self-employed carpenter and he drives a van, but has taken on a driver’s mate, and he earns about £3,500 a month.”
The Chairman of the bench then spoke directly to Bourn and said: “You have a shocking driving record,” to which Bourn replied: “No, it’s not great.”
Magistrates then told him he was being banned from driving for another 12 months for the driving while disqualified offence.
In total, because he was already on a ban, he is now disqualified for 26 months.
He was also placed on a 12-month community order which will see him complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
Bourn was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £114 as well as £85 court costs.
The Chairman added: “Do I really need to remind you what being disqualified means? You could get custody if you come back again with a record like this.”
Bourn received no separate penalty for the no insurance offence, but his licence would be endorsed.
