An out-of-work carer decided to blow off some steam with a drive to Shotover – despite being banned from the roads.

Unfortunately for Walter Kinuthia, 34, police caught him behind the wheel of the ‘dusty’ Nissan Micra in Headington on November 12. He was said to have been ‘swerving dramatically’ across the road.

Asked to blow into a breathalyser, he said he'd be happy to provide a sample but not for the officers that were dealing with him. He told them: "I don't trust you."

In mitigation, Mark Dixon told Oxford Magistrates' Court his client had been temporarily suspended from working as an agency carer as he’d failed to get both coronavirus jabs.

He’d gone from working ‘six or seven days a week’ to nothing, leaving him with time to stew about his parlous financial state and his desire to move out of the family home.

He had taken the car out the garage, where it had been sat for some time, and drove to Shotover Country Park to ‘think things over’.

Mr Dixon said his client, who had not fallen off the waggon since 2019, had ‘got it wrong’.

Earlier, prosecutor Adam Khan that officers noticed an ‘incredibly strong smell of alcohol’ as they approached the car.

He refused to do a breathalyser test at the roadside or the police station as he didn’t like the police officers. He told them: “I’m happy to provide but I don’t trust you.”

Appearing before the court on Monday afternoon, Kinuthia, of Barton Road, Oxford, pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance and failing to provide a breath sample.

He had four previous convictions for 12 offences. He was twice banned from the roads in 2019 – his most recent court appearances – for flouting driving bans.

The magistrates ordered pre-sentence reports and bailed Kinuthia to return to court on December 14 for sentencing.

Disqualified driving is a summary only offence, meaning it can only be dealt with at the magistrates' court.

The maximum sentence is 26 weeks - or six months - in prison. The justices often take a dim view of repeat offenders caught driving in breach of a roads ban multiple times.

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