Cocaine smoking banned driver got behind the wheel again because he was late for work at Premier Inn

A disqualified driver from Nottingham was caught jumping a red light while over the drug-drive limit just three weeks after being banned from the roads. Nottingham Crown Court heard how Rayhan Aziz had decided to get behind the wheel after waking up late for work because he had smoked cocaine the evening before.

The 47-year-old was on his way to work at Premier Inn and was concerned he would lose his job if he was late. The offences also put him in breach of a court order for badgering his mother for cash and now he faces an anxious wait to find out if he will or won’t be sent to prison after a judge adjourned his sentencing hearing.

Judge Julie Warburton said: “I am quite concerned about a number of features including that he was driving 20 days after being sentenced for similar driving which shows blatant disregard for court orders.”

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Rawaid Javed, prosecuting, said the latest driving offence happened on July 20, 2023. He said PC Tom Dodge was on patrol when he spotted a grey Honda jump a red light in London Road and so followed it and pulled it over in Rushworth Avenue, West Bridgford.

The prosecutor said: “The defendant was the sole occupant of the car, the officer made a check which showed the defendant had been disqualified from driving on June 30.

“The defendant voluntarily gave information that he had previous for drug driving and performed a roadside drugs test which showed him to be over the limit for Benzoylecgonine, a cocaine derivative.”

Mr Javed said Aziz, of Ashdale Road, Bakersfield, has four previous convictions for 14 offences including driving while disqualified in 2017 and drug driving from just 20 days before this offence and when he gave what the judge called “a very high reading” when he was tested. He said: “The offence also puts him in breach of a suspended sentence order of 10 months, suspended for 18 months, for six breaches of a non-molestation order which are him calling his mother, attending her address and asking her for money.

“And on June 20, this year, he was handed a 12-month community order, with 60 hours unpaid work, for six shop thefts from either Marks and Spencer or the Co-operative. Lauren Fisher, mitigating, said her client “fully accepts the serious predicament he is in” after he pleaded guilty to drug driving and driving while disqualified.

She said on the morning he drove through the red light in London Road he was on his way to work at a Premier Inn and chose to drive as he had smoked cocaine the evening before, overslept and was worried he would be late and lose his job.

Judge Warburton said: “If he had not smoked cocaine the night before he might have got up on time for work.” Miss Fisher said: “He did lose his job at the Premier Inn but secured similar work at Travelodge but then lost that job.

“He is now working for a company which helps people with convictions find employment.”

Aziz will be sentenced on a future date. At the time of his arrest, last July, PC Dodge, of the city centre neighbourhood policing team, said: “We are committed to making our roads safe for all users and that is why we take driving offences seriously."