Serial motoring offenders to face longer driving bans

Serial motoring offenders look set to face longer bans from next year after a review found that some magistrate are ‘dangerously lenient’ when handing out disqualifications.

Confusion over sentencing guidelines has allowed motorists to get back behind the wheel sooner than they should only for them to then reoffend, and in some cases even kill, The Times reports.

This has triggered calls for a clampdown on repeat offenders and, as of April next year, could see the Sentencing Council close all legal loopholes to prevent shorter bans for those with a history of dangerous driving. 

Longer bans for serial motoring offenders: The Sentencing Council intends to close legal loopholes that have allowed dangerous drivers to receive lenient disqualification periods

In theory, drivers who accrue 12 points or more on their licence within a three-year window face an automatic ban.

This should be for a minimum of six months for those who are being disqualified for the first time, and rise to one or two years for anyone who has been banned for a second or third occasion. 

However, the Sentencing Council – which is part of the Ministry of Justice – said some courts were failing to look back over motorists’ driving history when setting ban lengths, which is resulting in many being taken off the road for shorter periods than they should be.

This is because magistrates have only been considering the driver’s most recent offence, which is typically a three-point penalty such as being caught speeding, its report said.

This may lead to a ‘discretionary disqualification’ of fewer than 56 days, rather than looking at their total of 12 or more points which should lead to a ban of six months or longer.

It said ‘confusion’ regarding which points count towards a totting up disqualification is causing the problem and is an area it hopes to clear up via a change to wording in guidelines.

An open consultation – which closes in November – is seeking to close the legal loopholes that have allowed serial motoring offenders to escape proportionate punishment.

If given the green light, the changes will be in place by April. 

‘It has been suggested by some magistrates and legal advisers that courts are too often imposing short discretionary disqualifications (of less than 56 days) where 12 or more points have been imposed,’ it said in its report.

‘This avoids a longer period of disqualification that would result from totting-up (at least 6 months).’

Changes to sentencing guidelines should see serial motoring offenders face longer bans of 6 months or more from next April

Changes to sentencing guidelines should see serial motoring offenders face longer bans of 6 months or more from next April

The move comes just two years after the Sentencing Council published new Magistrates’ Court sentencing guidelines to prevent motorists from avoiding lengthy bans by claiming it would cause ‘exceptional hardship’.

It followed an investigation in April 2020 that revealed that over 9,000 UK licence holders have a dozen points or more but were allowed to continue driving by using the exceptional hardship loophole.

The current rules now state that loss of employment caused by a disqualification from driving is no longer sufficient alone to demonstrate exceptional hardship and offenders are required to prove that the loss of their licence is more than merely an inconvenience.

Just last month, the Duke of Norfolk Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, who organised the Queen’s funeral, failed to persuade magistrates that a six-month driving ban would result in exceptional hardship after he was caught running a red light and using his phone while driving.

He argued that he needed his licence in order to plan the coronation of King Charles III next year, with his legal team telling the court that he needed to be able to drive to ensure the organisation went smoothly.

The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, at Lavender Hill Magistrates' Court, London, where he has been banned from driving for six months after pleading guilty to using his mobile phone while driving

The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, at Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, London, where he has been banned from driving for six months after pleading guilty to using his mobile phone while driving

He had argued to the magistrate that he needed his licence in order to plan the coronation of King Charles III next year

He had argued to the magistrate that he needed his licence in order to plan the coronation of King Charles III next year

The Times said 83,581 motorists in England and Wales alone had escaped an automatic driving ban between 2011 and 2020, equal to about a fifth of motorists who amassed 12 points.

Some of these drivers not only went on to reoffend but there has also been cases where they have killed other road users.

David Davies, executive director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, told The Times: ‘It’s an insult to the victims of road crashes and their families when the courts allow people who can employ expensive lawyers to avoid the driving bans recommended by the Sentencing Council.’

Edmund King, AA president, added that there is ‘no reason’ why repeat motoring offenders should be dealt differently to any other criminal serial offenders. 

‘These drivers are more likely to put other lives at risk if the accumulation of offences isn’t considered. These loopholes need to be closed as soon as possible,’ he said.

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