VIDEO: Repeat disqualified driver sentenced and banned from roads for 542 days

An 18-year-old driver has been handed an extensive driving ban after being stopped by police while already disqualified from the road. Officers from the Roads Policing Unit of Sussex Police spotted a blue BMW 3 Series travelling westbound on the A259 towards Flansham at about 10.50pm on Thursday, 5 February. With support from Dog Unit […]

An 18-year-old driver has been handed an extensive driving ban after being stopped by police while already disqualified from the road.

Officers from the Roads Policing Unit of Sussex Police spotted a blue BMW 3 Series travelling westbound on the A259 towards Flansham at about 10.50pm on Thursday, 5 February.

With support from Dog Unit officers, the vehicle was boxed in and safely stopped on Felpham Relief Road.

The driver was identified as Barry Ayres, 18, of Linden Road, Bognor Regis. Police confirmed he was already subject to a driving ban following a conviction in August 2024.

Ayres had also been seen driving the same vehicle by Roads Policing Unit officers a few days earlier on 30 January. They were unable to stop him at the time because they were responding to a high-priority incident, but the sighting was logged for intelligence.

He was subsequently arrested and charged with two counts of driving while disqualified and two counts of driving without insurance relating to incidents on 30 January and 5 February.

Ayres was remanded in custody and appeared before Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 16 February, where he pleaded guilty to all offences.

He was sentenced to eight weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and disqualified from driving for a further 542 days.

PC Rob Potter, of the Roads Policing Unit, said: “We are committed to keeping disqualified drivers off our roads and will robustly deal with these offences, remanding offenders before the courts where necessary.”