A Sandown man who refused to stop for Police before abandoning his car near a children’s play park in Shanklin has pleaded guilty.
Joseph Drew, 34, of Avenue Road in Sandown, pleaded guilty to drug driving and driving without due care and attention when he appeared at the Isle of Wight Magistrate Courts on Friday (14th April).
Liz Miller, prosecuting, told the court that at around 12:40 on 19th December, Police saw the driver of a Ford Fiesta acting in a weird manner as he drove along Broadway in Sandown.
Officers checked the number plate of the vehicle seeing that it was Drew who was the registered keeper. It had flagged on the system that Drew had a previous drug-related conviction. Drew was followed for a while with officers seeing him pick up a passenger on St John’s Road in the town.
Police continued to follow Drew onto Lake Hill before activating their lights after noticing his driving was becoming increasingly questionable.
The pursuit stopped for a short time when Drew turned his vehicle around near ATS Euromaster on Newport Road. A short verbal exchange between Drew and the officers occurred before he drove off once more.
Officers on blue lights followed the car along the A3056 doing 55mph in 40mph zone. The speed of Drew had forced other motorists to pull over and stop.
The 34-year-old headed along Shanklin Road and then onto Victoria Road and Furze Hill Road. Drew eventually abandoned the vehicle on Batts Road near the children’s play park. The pursuit lasted around 12 minutes.
A roadside drugs wipe was carried out which returned a positive reading for cannabis. At Newport Police Station a blood test was conducted. Here a reading of 2.1ug/l was recorded – just above the 2ug/l limit.
Defending, Barry Arnett said that his client had panicked when he saw the Police and that despite this nothing was found on either him or in his vehicle. He also added that Drew had lost his employment as a result.
The case has been adjourned until 12th May to allow a pre-sentence report to be compiled. Drew has been handed an interim driving ban in the meantime.
He panicked! What sort of defense is that? Of course he panicked, he knew he was about to get nicked. That doesn’t make him any less guilty. I think I’ll become a defense lawyer, they’re on money for old dope.
Ban it for 10 years. We’ll all be a tiny bit safer.