Driving ban for speeder

Tuesday 17 December 2019

A recycling worker who was caught doing 45 miles per hour in a 20 zone has been fined, and disqualified from driving.

Raymond De Jesus Lopes (32) appeared in the Magistrate’s Court to be sentenced with the offence after a roadside speed check caught him doing more than double the limit.

The Court was told that the offence took place in July of this year when Lopes was driving a Ford Focus in the area of St. Thomas’s Church. 

Lopes was represented by the defence lawyer on duty at the Court, Advocate Luke Sette, who indicated his ‘guilty’ plea to the single charge.

Pictured: The case was heard in the Magistrate's Court.

Addressing Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz, Advocate Sette emphasised Lopes’s “cooperation with the Police force” and his guilty plea as points in his favour.

He also argued that Lopes shouldn’t be disqualified as he has “just started a new job” with a recycling company which “requires a driving licence.” Having said this, Advocate Sette asked that the Court endorse Lopes’s licence instead.

Relief Magistrate Fitz, presiding, said that in making her decision she did consider his plea and the “level of cooperation”, but she also noted some previous motoring offences on his record – which were more than 10 years old. 

Pictured: Lopes was disqualified from driving for the speeding offence.

Describing Lopes’s driving as “significant speeding” the Relief Magistrate imposed a fine of £330 and disqualified him from driving for one month. 

However, she said that she wouldn’t order that he has to retake his test at the end of the disqualification period.

Addressing Lopes directly, the Relief Magistrate said: “I hope that if it’s just one month then you can retain your employment.”