Kenyan Man in the UK Handed a Suspended Sentence, Banned from Driving for Five Years

A court in the United Kingdom has banned a Kenyan man from driving in the country for five more years after he admitted disqualified driving, driving with no insurance and failing to provide a breath sample.

35-year-old Walter Kinuthia was also sentenced to 20 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for two years, and ordered to pay £213 in costs and surcharge, Oxford Mail reported.

He must also abide by a 90-day alcohol abstinence tag and six-month mental health treatment order. 

The Oxford Magistrates’ court heard that Kinuthia was behind the wheel of a Toyota Corolla on November 12th last year when he was driving at speed and ‘swerving dramatically’, almost hitting parked cars on Barton Road in Oxford.

He was initially obstructive when he was pulled over by police by keeping the door shut and initially gave a different name.

Police later discovered his correct identity and learned that he was disqualified from driving until 2024. They also noticed open bottles of whisky in the car.

When he was taken to the police station, Kinuthia refused to provide a breath sample to test whether or not he was over the drink-drive limit. 

“He says he’s not happy to provide and doesn’t trust the officer,” prosecutor Ann Sawyer-Brandish told Oxford Magistrates’ Court.

In mitigation, his attorney Bethan Chichester told the court that her client had worked as a carer during the pandemic and witnessed a number of his clients die. He turned to alcohol.

“He was in the middle of a breakdown,” the attorney said.

Having admitted disqualified driving, driving with no insurance and failing to provide a breath sample when he appeared in court last November, Kinuthia went absent without leave for eight months.

His lawyer said he returned to Kenya where he checked himself into a mental health facility, stopped drinking for five months, and remained abstinent from alcohol. He returned to the UK in August this year.

“The day after he landed he handed himself in at court because he knew this was pending,” his attorney said.

Chairman of the bench Kay Whitaker told the defendant: “This court takes driving whilst disqualified very seriously. There was a reason why you had been disqualified in the first place and you willfully disobeyed that order and we heard when you were stopped you were driving at speed and fairly recklessly.”

The court heard that Kinuthia was first banned in 2013 for driving with excess alcohol in his system and was subsequently given further disqualifications for drunk driving.