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02
Aug
Harrogate man handed lengthy driving ban after refusing to be breathalysed
A Harrogate man was banned from driving on Thursday (July 31) after refusing to be breathalysed by police.
Paul Evison, of Dene Park, pleaded guilty to one offence of failing to provide a specimen for analysis and one offence of possessing cocaine, a class A drug, at Harrogate Magistrates Court.
Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting, told the court police were called to a potential altercation at Texaco petrol station on Harrogate’s Skipton Road on July 13.
The officers had been told a male, who was believed to be under the influence of alcohol, then got behind the wheel and drove away.
Police were given the man’s registration details and soon found his car parked round the corner from the Texaco garage.
The court heard officers approached Evison, who had been driving the car, and asked him to provide a breath sample.
Evison, 26, appeared intoxicated and tried to run away from police, but officers managed to restrain him.
As he was being arrested, police found a small wrap of what was later discovered to be cocaine on him.
Ms Ibbotson said police then tried to commence the full breathalyser procedure at Harrogate Police Station, where Evison was “unsteady on his feet”, but he refused.
When officers asked the defendant if he had a medical excuse that would exempt him from providing a breath sample, Evison said:
I haven’t got a reason.
Evison has been before the courts for drink and drug-driving offences in the past, the court heard.
Defendant was ‘frustrated by the situation’, court hears
Sean Wilson, defending, told the court Evison and his partner had been on a night out that evening.
“She got very drunk and that led to an argument at the petrol station”, the court heard.
Mr Wilson said Evison then drove off and the argument continued down Skipton Road.
He added:
What is absent from the police is any attempt to do a roadside breath test, but he does accept he refused to provide the sample.
He was frustrated by the situation; she was heavily intoxicated and he was being arrested.
Evison told police he had not taken the cocaine found on him at the time, and police did not do a drug swipe, Mr Wilson told the court.
The case was stood down temporarily for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.
A probation officer later told the court Evison did not intend to drive home that night.
She said:
He parked his car halfway between where he lives and town, so he could walk in and get a taxi home.
The court heard Evison needed to get his charger from his car, but he then made the decision to get behind the wheel.
The probation officer added Evison refused the breath sample as he “had been in prison for driving offences before”, but he regrets his actions.
Evison does not have any physical or mental health problems, the officer told the court.
Evison was handed a 12-month community order, during which he must complete 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days and wear an alcohol abstinence monitoring tag for 80 days.
He was banned from driving for four years, which will be reduced by 11 months if he completes a drink-drive awareness course by a set date.
Evison was also ordered to pay £85 in prosecution costs and a £114 surcharge.
The magistrates also made a forfeiture and destruction order in relation to the cocaine, meaning the drugs seized will be destroyed.
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