Serial driving offender jailed for ignoring bans

Wednesday 21 August 2019

A 51-year-old man, with one of the worst records for driving while disqualified a Magistrate said she had seen, has been jailed after repeatedly ignoring bans imposed in Jersey and the UK.

Craig Richard Jackson, whose "bad record" for driving was said to date all the way back to the 80s, was handed his five-month sentence in the Magistrate's Court this week.

It came following his arrest at Elizabeth Terminal on 31 July for driving while disqualified - just six weeks after committing a similar offence in the UK.

Jackson had been disqualified from driving in Jersey for a period of three years in 2007 and was ordered to retake a test, which he never did. When he drove off the boat, having travelled from Poole in a Laguna, a Customs and Immigration officer recognised him as a disqualified driver.

Having been disqualified from driving in the UK until 2022, Jackson told the officers that a friend had driven the car to Poole and that he had simply driven onto the boat. He confirmed he had not taken his test again in Jersey.

He explained he had come to the island to work and was planning to stay with his ex-wife. 

Pictured: Jackson was stopped by a Customs and Immigration officer after getting off a boat from Poole.

The Magistrate’s Court, where Jackson appeared on Monday to face one charge of driving whilst disqualified and one charge of driving without insurance, heard that Jackson had previous convictions for similar offences.

Defending, Advocate Emma Wakeling told Court that Jackson accepted he had a “significant record for similar offending.”

She said that Jackson did not consider he was driving on a public highway by simply driving the car on and off the boat. “It was not prolonged driving on public roads,” she noted.

Advocate Wakeling explained that Jackson intended to park the car in Jersey and work on it with his son, who was the registered owner. But Magistrate Bridget Shaw, presiding, noted that Jackson had admitted to a Probation Officer he was going to drive the car from the harbour to a local campsite. 

Advocate Wakeling urged the Magistrate to focus on Jackson’s “solid work record”, adding that he had secured a post with a local drainage company.

Pictured: Advocate Emma Wakeling was defending Jackson.

She further explained that Jackson, who lived in Jersey for over 10 years, had returned to the island to be with his son, whom he is very close to.

“He has one of the worst records for driving whilst disqualified that I have seen in a long time,” Magistrate Shaw interjected.

Going through Jackson’s record, she said it started in the late 80s as a juvenile and had continued in the 90s. Whilst there were gaps in Jackson’s offending - at the end of the 90s and between 2007 and 2018 - the Magistrate said it started again in early 2018 with a drink driving charge. The "most relevant charges”, she added, were those from August 2018 and June 2019 when Jackson was caught driving whilst disqualified. 

While Advocate Wakeling stated Jackson was willing to carry out a period of community service and probation, Magistrate Shaw opted for a prison sentence. 

Pictured: Jackson said he had only driven the car to get onto the boat and was only going to drive it off.

Acknowledging that Jackson had only driven a short while in the UK, she noted his intentions to drive to the campsite and the fact he had accepted a job, due to the start on the day of his first appearance in Court, which required a full driving license.

She said this made her very doubtful that Jackson was not intending to drive the Laguna, or another vehicle, whilst in Jersey. She said Jackson’s history supported the idea that he would fail to respect a driving ban or “abide by the orders of the Court", once again reminding him of his “very bad record.”  

Magistrate Shaw told Jackson that his recent conviction for a similar offence in the UK was an aggravating factor in his case. 

Concluding, she said she had no other option but to jail Jackson and sentenced him to five months in prison.

She also disqualified him for three years and reminded him he must not drive on any road in Jersey during that period and until he has retaken a driving test. Failing that, she warned Jackson he would inevitably face custody again.