A DRIVER caught without insurance for the seventh time has been given “one final chance” to avoid prison.
Jose Filipe Nascimento Rocha (28) was ordered to complete 180 hours of community service and banned from driving for two years in the Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Police stopped Rocha in St Brelade at about 2.25am on 10 July while he was driving a car he had got the previous day.
Rocha claimed that it was insured through another vehicle but the certificate he later produced did not provide cover until 1.45pm that day – more than 11 hours after he was stopped.
He also admitted driving a defective car near Green Street on 19 April.
An inspection found two tyres below the legal limit, faults with the braking system, an oil leak and no catalytic converter.
Advocate James Bell, defending, said Rocha had faced significant personal difficulties but now had a support worker and was engaging with the Back to Work scheme.
Assistant Magistrate Adam Clarke, presiding, acknowledged those difficulties but told Rocha that he needed to “move forward and put those matters behind you”.
He said the defendant had a “very poor history” of motoring offences.
“This is your seventh offence,” Mr Clarke said. “I am going to give you one final chance.”
Rocha was also fined £300 for driving the defective vehicle.
