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05
Dec
Banned drunk and drugged driver jailed after high speed chase around Ripon and Pateley Bridge
A man who took to the road while drunk and drugged – despite already being disqualified from driving – has been jailed.
Police received tip-offs from the public that a Suzuki Grand Vitara was being driven dangerously and colliding into things in and around Pateley Bridge and Ripon.
According to a North Yorkshire Police statement today, officers spotted the vehicle “being driven at high speed, sliding on the road with smoke coming from its tyres”.
The force received further reports of the vehicle swerving all over the motorway when it was driven onto the A1(M) northbound.
It left at junction 51, and crashed into a hedge on the B6285 near Exelby.
The driver – Shaun Thomas Hodgson – appeared to be asleep or unconscious, and only woke up when police smashed a window to gain access.
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Hodgson was arrested. Blood tests showed alcohol and benzoylecgonine — a chemical associated with cocaine — in his system, both above the legal limit.
He was charged with driving whilst disqualified, driving dangerously, drug driving, drink driving, failing to report an accident, failing to stop after an accident, and driving without insurance on February 22 this year,
Hodgson, 29, from Whickham, Gateshead, pleaded guilty on October 22, and at York Crown Court on December 2, he was jailed for a total of 16 months, and disqualified from driving for three years.
The sentencing followed the start of North Yorkshire Police’s annual Christmas drink and drug drive campaign on December 1.
Launching the campaign, Superintendent Andrew Berriman said:
We will be out in force through December and make no apology for doing all that we can to take offenders who are over the drink drive limit or under the influence of drugs off North Yorkshire’s roads. The overwhelming majority of law-abiding motorists are appalled at drink and drug driving and will back the action taken against a small minority to make our roads safer.
North Yorkshire Police is increasing its drink and drug driving patrols during December, using marked and unmarked vehicles and a range of specialist tactics.
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