A man has been admitted driving at double the speed limit on the M4 with dangerously tinted windows, no insurance and suspected cannabis in his system.
Shavaiz Mandalia, 24, of Central Road, Wembley, pleaded guilty to speeding, driving while uninsured, using a motor vehicle in a condition likely to cause danger of injury and failure to provide a specimen for analysis on September 27 and was sentenced at Swindon Magistrates Court on November 7.
Mr Cooper, prosecuting, told the court that police officers spotted Mandalia speeding between 130 and 140 miles per hour in a BMW on the M4 at around 1am on August 28.
As they pulled the vehicle over, they noticed his windows were heavily tinted and despite tinted windows below 30 per cent being considered dangerous, his were at 16 per cent.
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During a roadside drug test, Mandalia tested positive for cannabis and he was arrested and taken to Gablecross police station in Swindon.
Mandalia refused to provide a blood sample when requested by the health care professional, because he said he was worried about passing out after seeing the needle.
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Mr Cooper argued that the combination of the reduced visibility, speeding, possible impairment of drugs, lack of insurance and failure to provide a blood sample made it a “serious offence”.
In mitigation, Mr McCarthy, defending, said it was Mandalia’s first conviction and he had subsequently “lost his good name”, but had co-operated with officers when they pulled him over and did not try to speed off.
He said that Mandalia had fainted previously when having bloodwork done and “did not want to pass out on that occasion” and explained that the vehicle was a hire car which someone had asked him to drive.
Mandalia said the man had told him the vehicle was insured and he did not think the tinted windows reduced his visibility, but he accepts his speed was excessive and he should have checked the insurance.
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Mr McCarthy added that there were two people in the BMW with Mandalia and it was “not clear what the purpose of the journey was” but he speculated that Mandalia “might have been taken advantage of by the person who hired the car”.
Mandalia was sentenced to eight weeks in custody suspended for 12 months, disqualified from driving for 32 months and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.
He must also pay a surcharge of £154 and prosecution costs of £85, totalling £239.
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