Banned Beeston addict caught driving van while carrying stolen road roller

Anthony Selwyn Richards was stopped on the westbound carriageway of the M62 near Leeds on May 27 last year. Police were suspicious after the registration plates did not match the model of van he was driving. They were found to be false plates and had the driven the vehicle from the Mansfield area in Nottinghamshire, Leeds Crown Court was told.

In the back of the van they found a Bomag road roller that had been hired from a company in the Leicestershire area but had not been returned.

Richards, age 52, of Flaxton Close, was banned from driving in 1996 and told he must undergo an extended re-test to obtain his licence again, but never sat the test.

He admitted driving while banned, without insurance and handling stolen goods. He has previous convictions, including handling stolen goods. He has been held on remand for several months.

Mitigating, Shila Whitehead said that Richards had a long-standing drug problem and he was “pressured” into retrieving the stolen plant machinery from the East Midlands because of the debt he accrued. She said that despite his record and addiction issue, he was responding well to rehabilitation.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar handed him an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years. He also gave him a six-month drug rehabilitation order, to ensure he remains drug free.

He said: “I’m going to give you an opportunity. There’s no doubt that your drug addiction is a problem, but you are in a frame of mind that may cause you to change your ways.”