A DRUG-DRIVER has been banned from the roads for the second time in just one week after being spotted behind the wheel days after being disqualified.
Ian Hipkin, 39, of Dedham Road, Boxted, in Colchester, first appeared at Colchester Magistrates' Court on October 9.
He faced one count of driving with excess drugs in his system after a police officer witnessed him driving erratically in Ardleigh on the A120 back in April.
When he was stopped, he tested positive for cocaine at the roadside and was subsequently arrested and charged.
During the hearing he pleaded guilty to the offence, resulting in him being disqualified from driving for two years and fined.
Brazenly, just days later, on October 14, Hipkin was clocked driving a van in Severalls Lane, Colchester by the same officer who had arrested him previously.
On this occasion he was charged with driving whilst disqualified and remanded to appear at Colchester Magistrates’ Court the following day.
He pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified and was sentenced to a further 12-month ban and ordered to carry out 100 hours community service.
PC Katherine Major, of the Essex Roads Policing Team, said: “Hipkin knew that he was banned from driving but still got behind the wheel.
"He ignored that fact when he set off for work that day. Being banned from driving means just that – no more driving.”
The court ordered a charge of no insurance to lie on file.
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