A MAN caught drink and drug-driving near Carlisle has been jailed – after also breaching a suspended prison term he was given for a previous burglary bid.
Ian Johnson, 38, was found to have committed three crimes after a vehicle was stopped on the M6 close at Southwaite in November, 2017. Johnson was just over the legal drink-drive limit, was driving under the influence of cocaine and, it emerged, didn’t even have a full licence.
He was bailed and summonsed to attend a court hearing but failed to show.
He was finally brought to book at Carlisle Crown Court today (THURS), when Judge Peter Davies heard how Johnson had also breached a suspended six-month prison term by failing to attend probation service appointments. Johnson had – in March of 2017 – also been ordered to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work as part of his punishment for attempting to burgle a home in Wigan while the occupants were away. He was found hiding underneath a bed at that property, and caught in possession of cannabis.
Mark Shepherd, defending, sought to explain why Johnson had failed to attend court after breaching the suspended prison term and committing the offences in Cumbria during November, 2017. “He panicked,” said Mr Shepherd. “He realised he was going to prison as a consequence of that. He accepts that he returned back to his home area (Wigan) and waited for the evil day.”
Judge Davies jailed Johnson, of no fixed abode, for eight months, and ordered him to serve a 12-month driving ban when released from custody.
