Jail for disqualified drink driver

A disqualified drink driver from Buxton has been jailed after being found to be driving for a second time without a licence after being spared prison less than a month before.

Jamie Gardner (pictured) was seen driving a Kia Ceed along Monks Road in Glossop on Friday 13 November when he crashed into a wall in front of a police officer.

Gardner made no attempt to stop the car but was forced to due to the damage caused by the crash.

While being spoken to by the officer, Gardner ran off, only to be found hiding in a nearby field.

The 29-year-old failed to give a sample of breath at the scene and was arrested. In custody, he failed to provide a sample once more.

Gardner, of Cromford Lane in Fairfield, tried to claim that after running away from the officers and hiding in a field he had drunk half a bottle of whisky – but he was charged with both drink driving and driving whilst disqualified.

He appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court, where he admitted both charges and was sent to prison for 35 weeks after activating a suspended sentence that had been handed to him on 22 October for driving whilst disqualified in May of this year.

For that offence, he had been given a 23-week term in prison that had been suspended for 24 months – with the clear instruction that should he offend again during that time then the suspended sentence would be activated.

For his new offences, the court gave Gardner a further 12 weeks on top of his original 23-week sentence and, due to the seriousness of the case and the offences being the same, he was sent straight to prison.