17 drink and drug-drivers banned from Kent’s roads
Every day, people in Kent endanger themselves and others by getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol or taking drugs. The consequences can be tragic, with one drink-driver jailed last week for causing a crash that left a teenage girl with life-changing injuries.
Here, we look at that story and the cases of 16 other motorists sentenced in recent weeks after deciding to take to the county's roads while under the influence... Luke Humphries
Luke Humphries[1], 21, "catastrophically ruined" a teenage girl's life after causing a horror crash that almost killed her - then fled the scene and lied to police about being carjacked. The plumber was double the legal limit when his VW Scirocco careered into the path of a Ford Fiesta, catapulting it across the A256 in Deal and into oncoming traffic on January 6 last year. A 16-year-old girl was seriously injured in the smash and needed surgery to fix a shattered leg, ruining her dream of becoming a flight attendant.
Humphries, of Woodnesborough, was arrested and gave a reading of 69 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath - the legal limit is 35.
He subsequently pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drink-driving and failing to stop.
Picture: Kent Police
Jailing Humphries for two-and-a-half years at Canterbury Crown Court, Judge Edmund Fowler told him: "You took the decision to drive home from the pub when you were clearly incapable of controlling your vehicle." Humphries was also banned from driving for three years and three months. Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris drove a BMW with no insurance, no driving licence and with cocaine in his blood. The 31-year-old from Strood was pulled over in Mills Terrace, Chatham, on November 16 last year. He appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court on March 5 and was given a 17-month ban after admitting driving without a licence and insurance, and above the legal limit for the cocaine by-product benzoylecgonine.
The Sealand Drive resident was fined GBP800 and ordered to complete 40 hours of unpaid work within a year. He was also told to pay GBP405 in costs and surcharges.
Rachel Smith Rachel Smith, of Canterbury Road, Folkestone, failed to stop after she was involved in a car accident in her hometown.
The 46-year-old was driving a Nissan Micra when she damaged pedestrian railings in Dover Road on March 6. She was found at the time to have 99 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath in her system.
Appearing before Margate magistrates on March 21, Smith admitted drink-driving and failing to stop after a collision and was consequently banned from driving for two years and three months. As part of a community order, she must complete 60 hours of unpaid work within 12 months and pay GBP85 in costs and a GBP114 surcharge.
Jack Friend
Jack Friend, 30, of Cherry Close, Sittingbourne, was brought before Medway Magistrates' Court on drug-driving charges. After a trial on February 3, Friend was found guilty of driving a Mercedes along his hometown's High Street with cocaine in his blood above legal limits on November 5, 2023. He was given a 13-month driving ban, ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and told to pay fines totalling GBP1,387.
Tomas Bogdan
Tomas Bogdan[2] "lost control" of his vehicle and struck a van and a Mini Cooper in Ferndale Road, Gillingham, in the early hours of August 23 last year. The 34-year-old was over the alcohol limit when he got behind the wheel of a BMW 3 Series and pleaded guilty to drink-driving at Margate Magistrates's Court. Video footage presented in court during his sentencing hearing on March 4 showed a young child getting out of the back seat of the car and running away in distress just moments after.
Bogdan, of Linden Road, Gillingham, was given a community order to run until June 3, 2026.
His punishment included 90 days of alcohol abstinence and monitoring, 15 days of rehabilitation activity, and 150 hours of unpaid work.
He was banned from driving for three years and four months and ordered to pay costs of GBP85 and a surcharge of GBP114. Pathmanathan Pathmarjan Pathmanathan Pathmarjan, from Canterbury, was banned from the road for three years and four months after pleading guilty to drink-driving.
The 51-year-old, of Mayfly Close, was caught on February 16 at the wheel of a Mercedes Sprinter van on the M2 coastbound.
He had 103 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system - almost treble the legal limit. At Folkestone Magistrates' Court, he received a community order including 150 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activities. He was ordered to pay GBP199 in costs and surcharges.
Hayley Berry
Cocaine addict Hayley Berry[3] was so "out of it" on the school run that members of the public took her car keys and walked her children to class. The 36-year-old was told by a magistrate it was "one of the worst examples of drug-driving" he had ever seen.
Berry had children in the back of her Ford C-Max when she was pulled over in Grosvenor Road, Broadstairs, on November 11. The Ramsgate resident admitted driving while unfit through drugs and being over the limit for methylamphetamine and benzoylecgonine when she appeared before magistrates in Margate on Friday, March 7.
The court was told that when her blood was tested, she gave a reading of 83 micrograms of benzoylecgonine per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50. She was given an eight-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months.
During that time, she must complete 100 hours of unpaid work. She was banned from driving for two-and-a-half years and ordered to pay GBP85 in costs and a GBP154 victim surcharge. Brad Butler
Brad Butler, 23, pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of cannabis. The Margate resident was riding a motorbike along Northdown Road on December 6 last year with delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels above 6.8 micrograms per 100ml of his blood. The legal limit is two.
On March 6, at Margate Magistrates' Court, Butler was ordered to complete 60 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order. He was also disqualified from driving for 17 months and made to pay GBP85 in costs and a GBP114 surcharge. Kudakwashe Bere
Kudakwashe Bere was stopped at the Stag pub car park in Challock, Ashford, and found to be more than double the drink-drive limit.
Picture: Stock image
Appearing before Folkestone magistrates on March 19, he pleaded guilty to drink-driving and was banned from the road for two years. As part of a community order, the 29-year-old, of St George's Place, Canterbury, was also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and pay GBP199 in costs and surcharges. Andrew Skelton
Andrew Skelton was pulled over in Spitalfield Lane, Romney Marsh, on April 22 last year. The 35-year-old was found to be uninsured and have excessive levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinal, cocaine and its breakdown product in his blood. Appearing before Folkestone magistrates on March 7, Skelton, of Juniper Way, Hawkinge, admitted the offences and was given a community order requiring 40 hours of unpaid work.
He was also banned from driving for 17 months. Andrew Lock Andrew Lock, from Teynham, was banned from driving for 23 months after pleading guilty to drink-driving.
The 41-year-old, of London Road, drove a Mercedes C220 on St Michaels Road, Sittingbourne, on December 8, 2024, with 215mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system - the legal limit is 80.
Picture: Stock image
At Medway Magistrates' Court, he received a community order of 50 hours unpaid work and must pay fines and surcharges totalling GBP199. Craig Cunningham Craig Cunningham, of Dane Road, Margate, was almost three times the legal limit when he was caught drink-driving in his hometown on February 21.
Margate magistrates heard on March 6 how the 42-year-old was also uninsured when he drove a Peugeot Partner van on Marine Drive. Tests showed he had 100 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of his breath - the legal limit is 35. After pleading guilty to both offences, Cunningham received a three-and-a-half-year driving ban as part of a community order.
Before March 5 next year, he must also complete an alcohol treatment program and 100 hours of unpaid work. Billy Wood Billy Wood, from Paddock Wood, was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to multiple charges before Medway magistrates.
The court heard the 21-year-old, of Queen Street, drove a Volkswagen Golf while under the influence of both alcohol and drugs.
Picture: Stock image
He had 56 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath in his system and 2.5 micrograms of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in his blood when he was stopped on the A2 in Canterbury on August 19 last year. Wood was also convicted of driving while disqualified, failing to stop for police, and driving without due care and attention. The offences occurred while he was subject to a community order for a previous weapons charge.
As part of his sentence, Wood must complete 150 hours of unpaid work and up to 10 days of rehabilitation activities. He was ordered to pay GBP154 in victim surcharge and GBP85 in costs. Luke Turner
Luke Turner was over the alcohol limit when he was involved in a car accident on May 12 last year and failed to stop. The 30-year-old was driving a silver Volkswagen Polo when he collided with a white BMW and another car in his home street of Courtenay Road, Maidstone. With 194mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system, he was more than double the legal limit.
He pleaded guilty to drink-driving and failing to stop after an accident when he appeared before Maidstone Magistrates' Court on March 6. He was banned from driving for two years, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work, and must abstain from alcohol for 60 days. Anthony Bell
Anthony Bell, of Hill Crescent, Aylesham, was sentenced for multiple driving offences last month after his black Nissan Qashqai was pulled over on the A2 in Dover on October 16. Appearing before Margate magistrates on January 29, the 27-year-old pleaded guilty to driving with excessive levels of cannabis, cocaine, and benzoylecgonine in his blood and also driving without a valid licence or insurance.
He was sentenced at the same court on March 18 to a one-year community order, including 20 days of rehabilitation activities and 120 hours of unpaid work. Bell was also disqualified from driving for 18 months and ordered to pay GBP85 in prosecution costs.
Joseph White Joseph White, of Chart Road, Folkestone, was behind the wheel of a Hyundai i20 while over the limit on February 15, 2025. The 38-year-old was driving in Military Road, Canterbury, when he was pulled over by police and blew 118 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath - more than treble the legal limit.
After pleading guilty to drink-driving at Folkestone Magistrates' Court on March 12, he was disqualified for four years and ordered to undergo alcohol treatment for three months. White must also complete 10 days of rehabilitation activities and pay GBP85 in costs. Harjinder Kang
Harjinder Kang was jailed for 12 weeks after pleading guilty to multiple driving offences. The 34-year-old, of Raphael Road, Gravesend, was caught drink-driving a Vauxhall Corsa in his hometown in Barnfield Road on July 6 last year. When police stopped him, they found he was driving while disqualified and without insurance, and was in possession of illegal steroids.
Tests showed 128mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in Kang's system. He also had 240 micrograms of benzoylecgonine - a cocaine metabolite - per litre of blood. The legal limit is 50.
Appearing before Medway magistrates on March 11, Kang received a four-year driving ban, extended by 42 days due to his immediate custodial sentence.
References
- ^ Luke Humphries (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ Tomas Bogdan (www.kentonline.co.uk)
- ^ Hayley Berry (www.kentonline.co.uk)