A man from Tenerife who has been arrested twelve times for driving without having a license, or for doing so when he had exceeded the maximum number of points, has been sentenced to more than 7 years in jail.
The offences date back to between 2009 an d 2017 and carry sentences ranging between 4 and a half months and ten months each.
On several occasions he was also banned from driving for multiple crimes against road safety. This latest sentence has been imposed by the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and adds another nine months to the sentence and the seizure of his vehicle.
On this last occasion he was stopped in a routine control while driving on the TF-152 between La Laguna and El Sauzal, even though he has already been banned for seven years.
At the time, he was ordered to take a road awareness course, which he didn’t attend, nor did he pass the theoretical test necessary to get a new permit.
He did not appear at his own trial:
When the man was sentenced to 7 and a half years in jail, he didn’t even attend the trial as it was "impossible" to contact him. However, during the investigation leading to the trial, the man stated that he was unaware of having lost his licence and that the only evidence against him was the statement of the Guardia Civil agents, which he considered insufficient to support a conviction.
He also complained that he had not been personally notified about it, or the disciplinary file, even though it was published in the Official State Gazette (BOC), so there was no certainty that he knew about it.
The court didn’t accept any of his objections and stood by their decision to confiscate his car and send him to jail since it is an infraction considered to be "very serious" and “ in the interest of public safety”.
