'You caught me,' says disqualified West Raynham driver

A West Raynham man told police “You caught me” after being stopped driving while disqualified a third time.

The most recent offence was near Nigel Root’s home in The Street just a month after his ban had been imposed.

The 58-year-old appeared before Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to plead guilty to driving while disqualified on April 14 and having no insurance for the Land Rover Defender.

Prosecutor Katharine Kibrya-Dean said: “The defendant was disqualified from driving on March 10 for a duration of six months. Just over a month later on April 14 officers then stopped him.

“He said ‘you caught me’ as he exited the vehicle. The defendant was very upset and emotional.”

Miss Kibrya-Dean said Root had previous convictions for the same two offences in 2012 and 2015.

“He has quite a record for driving while disqualified,” the prosecutor said.

In mitigation, Ruth Johnson outlined an “incredibly traumatic” few years which had impacted her client’s mental health and said he’d suffered a breakdown and stroke in 2014.

She said on the day in question he’d wanted some fresh air with his dogs but “didn’t even think” about the consequences of what he was doing.

Root was given a 12-month community order with 80 hours’ unpaid work and up to 15 days of rehabilitation activities.

For the insurance matter, he was fined £50 and given six penalty points. An order was made to pay £145 in costs and victim surcharge.