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25
Apr
Man fined for failing to provide blood sample at Harrogate police station
A man has been fined after he failed to provide police with a specimen for analysis.
Zakk Shutt pleaded guilty to the offence, as well as one count of possessing a controlled class B drug – cannabis – at Harrogate Magistrates Court on Thursday (April 24).
Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting, told the court that police were notified of a car travelling towards Thirsk from Northallerton on September 24 last year.
There were reports of the car smelling of cannabis, the court heard, as well as concerns about the manner of driving.
Police went to Thirsk and Northallerton Golf Club, where the vehicle had stopped, and found Shutt in the driver's seat.
An unnamed person was also in the front passenger’s seat of the car.
The court heard the defendant, of Dorado Close in Stockton-on-Tees, handed officers a “small amount of cannabis” at the scene.
He also told them he had smoked some cannabis.
Ms Ibbotson told the court a roadside sample was taken, which was positive, and Shutt was arrested.
He was taken to Harrogate Police Station, where a healthcare professional asked Shutt if he consented to providing a blood sample.
Shutt agreed and a small amount of blood was obtained, but the defendant was “moving around”.
On the final attempt to take a blood sample, Shutt told the healthcare professional:
You won’t get any blood so there’s no point carrying on.
There was no evidence of a high level of impairment, Ms Ibbotson said.
Defendant ‘had been to Amsterdam the week before’
Sean Wilson, defending, said the healthcare professional had managed to draw blood twice, but the amount was insufficient.
When they tried for the third time, Shutt “decided he could not go on any further”.
The 24-year-old defendant works as an estate agent, but he also has his own clothing business on the side.
Mr Wilson said although Shutt refused the final attempt, it did not appear to be a deliberate refusal.
The court heard the cannabis handed to police was in the form of a single joint, and Shutt may have been over the limit as he “had been to Amsterdam the week before and smoked cannabis there”.
The magistrates banned Shutt from driving for three years.
He was also ordered to pay a total of £1,699, which comprises a £1,153 fine, a £461 surcharge and £85 in prosecution costs.
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