Gavin Robert Ferguson (48) appeared in the Royal Court yesterday after pleading guilty to five motoring offences.
Crown Advocate Emma Hollywood said that on 20 July 2019 at around 10pm, a man was at the top of the slipway adjacent to St Catherine’s Breakwater when he saw Ferguson riding a motorcycle, with a passenger on it, the wrong way down the one-way road before travelling along the length of the breakwater.
Ferguson was later found and arrested and provided a sample of urine containing 200 milligrams of alcohol in 100ml of urine. The legal limit is 107 milligrams.
The defendant initially denied riding the motorcycle, despite a statement being provided by the pillion passenger saying that Ferguson was the driver. Instead, Ferguson claimed that another man – ‘Mr Davison’ – had been riding it. It was later proven that this man had been working at a hotel at the time.
Ferguson was also sentenced yesterday for breaching a 100-hour community service order imposed on 7 May, when he was disqualified from driving for separate motoring offences.
Advocate Hollywood then recommended a prison sentence of 16 months and a four-year driving disqualification.
However, Advocate Allana Binnie, defending, told the court that her client had already served enough time in prison and called for a probation order to be imposed.
She also claimed that Mr Ferguson had got a lift to St Catherine with a woman to spend the night under the stars but also, as he was now disqualified from driving, to meet potential buyers for his motorcycle.
Advocate Binnie added that her client had been persuaded to ride the motorcycle by the woman.
‘It is the case that the distance driven on the bike was short and the majority of riding took place on the breakwater and not on the road. It was also at night when there was less traffic and fewer people around. The weather was good, he had recently passed his motorcycle test and he was not speeding.’
However, during sentencing, Lieutenant-Bailiff Anthony Olsen, described Ferguson’s account as a ‘cock and bull story’ and a ‘wholly mendacious version of events’.
He described Advocate Hollywood’s 16-month recommendation as too low, and the court sentenced Ferguson to 18 months in prison. Ferguson was also banned from driving for four years.
‘We urge the defendant to use your time in prison wisely and take full advantage of the treatments and interventions available. We also recommend that you refer yourself to the probation and aftercare service on release,’ he said.
Jurats Jerry Ramsden and Kim Averty were also sitting.
