Man's refusal to take drink-drive test after being stopped on A44

Eljay Hardy had argued his innocence but following legal advice accepted his guilt at Worcester Magistrates Court.

Melanie Winterflood, prosecuting, said the 31-year-old had been followed in the car he was driving after a report it was stolen.

The police followed him on the A44, at the roundabout of Pinvin, to Worcestershire Parkway with Hardy coming to a stop in Woodbury Lane.

Miss Winterflood said Hardy was initially told he was being arrested for the stolen car.

CASE: Eljay Hardy leaving Worcester Magistrates Court (Image: Sam Greenway/Newsquest)

During the drive, officers had noticed Hardy crossing the central reservation line and breaking unnecessarily, leading them to also ask for a roadside breathalyser test. 

"He couldn't understand, after being arrested for a stolen car, why he had to provide a specimen," the prosecutor said. 

"It is a deliberate refusal."

The prosecutor added that Hardy was not prosecuted for driving a stolen car, had no previous relevant convictions and there were no "aggravating features" to the case. 

Katherine Maynereid, defending, said Hardy had accepted he was guilty of failing to provide a specimen after she had given him legal advice.

"It has been a difficult decision for him," the solicitor said.

CASE: Hardy's case was heard at Worcester Magistrates Court

"He thought he was in the right.

"He has done completely the right thing - he doesn't have a defence.

"It was a genuine mistake."

She said that, before arrest, the property developer had tried to explain the car was not stolen.

But the defendant claimed officers then swore at him and it "went downhill" from there. 

The solicitor said police later tried to explain the offence to the dad-of-one but by that time he did not trust them. 

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"He is adamant he had not been drinking at all," the solicitor added. 

Jacqueline De Sousa, chairman of the magistrates bench, told Hardy he was being fined £615 and would pay costs of £135 and victim surcharge of £246 -  a total of £996.

Hardy, of High Street, Bristol, was also disqualified from driving for 22 months. 

Magistrates offered him the chance to take the drink-drive awareness course which, if successfully completed, will reduce the length of the ban by 22 weeks.