“RECKLESS BEYOND BELIEF”: Taxi driver banned after being caught more than THREE TIMES over drink-drive limit during school run
- Perry Richardson
- 11 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A Suffolk taxi driver has been banned from driving for three years and ordered to pay more than £9,500 after being caught more than three times the drink-drive limit while attempting to carry out a school run.
Jonathan Drew, 58, was sentenced at Ipswich Magistrates’ Court on Friday 27 February after pleading guilty to driving with excess alcohol earlier in the month.
The court disqualified Drew from driving for three years and imposed a £7,500 fine. He was also ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and £85 in costs, bringing the total financial penalty to £9,585.
The offence occurred at around 3.40pm on Thursday 12 February in a car park on Grove Road in Bury St Edmunds, where Drew had driven his taxi to collect school students.
Ipswich court imposes £9,500 penalty package after Suffolk taxi driver found heavily over the alcohol limit while collecting pupils.
As Drew approached the entrance to the car park he collided with another vehicle exiting the site and failed to stop. The driver of the other car followed the taxi into the car park to speak with him about the collision.
Upon approaching the driver, the motorist noticed a strong smell of alcohol and contacted police. The individual also blocked Drew’s taxi with their own vehicle to prevent him leaving before officers arrived.
Police attended the scene and administered a roadside breath test, which Drew failed. The initial reading recorded 144 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, more than four times the legal limit of 35 microgrammes.
Drew was arrested and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre, where he later provided an evidential breath sample measuring 124 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The reading equated to approximately three and a half times the legal limit.
Following the arrest he was charged with driving with excess alcohol and remanded to appear before magistrates the next day. At a hearing on 13 February he entered a guilty plea and was made subject to an interim driving ban ahead of sentencing later that month.
PC Wayne Sturman, of the Commercial Vehicle Unit (CVU), said: “I was incredibly shocked when informed of this case – in our roles as CVU officers we have encountered all manner of offences committed by people who we regard as ‘professional drivers’, but I have to say this is one of the most shocking.
“Drink-driving is incredibly dangerous – especially when you are that many times over the limit. But to then drive a taxi when you will be transporting children is reckless beyond belief.
“We are very grateful to the member of the public for their quick actions on that day - calling police immediately and preventing him from continuing to drive his taxi. The ramifications for Jonathan Drew now are that he has lost his livelihood and I hope the length of the ban and the significant financial penalties imposed, act as a deterrent to other drivers.”
