Tapscott, R. v

A driving disqualification may properly accompany imprisonment for repeated offences of depositing controlled waste without a waste-management licence. Its length remains a matter of justice in the individual case. A clean driving licence and the practical effect of disqualification on employment and family support may justify reducing the period, but do not necessarily make disqualification inappropriate.

The applicant, a registered waste carrier, pleaded guilty in the Crown Court at Plymouth to five offences of depositing controlled waste on land without a waste-management licence. He also asked for a further similar offence to be taken into consideration.

On 2 March 2007, Judge Gilbert QC imposed a total of 16 months’ imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for two years under section 147 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000. The applicant renewed his application for leave to appeal after a single judge’s refusal.

He abandoned his challenge to the custodial sentence. The sole issue was whether the driving disqualification was unwarranted or excessive.

1. Appeal allowed in part. The Court upheld the decision to impose a driving disqualification, but reduced its length from two years to one year.
2. The applicant had repeatedly deposited household waste at unauthorised sites despite being registered as a waste carrier and being obliged to use approved sites. Some further offences were committed while he was on bail. The sentencing judge had treated the offences as serious and aggravated by the applicant’s disregard for the law and for others.
3. The applicant no longer challenged the total custodial sentence of 16 months’ imprisonment. The Court therefore confined its consideration to the ancillary disqualification imposed under section 147 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.
4. The Court took account of the applicant’s clean licence and of the submission that disqualification hindered his ability to obtain employment and support his family following release. Those matters did not make disqualification inappropriate. They did, however, mean that justice could be achieved by a one-year rather than a two-year period.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): On renewal after a single judge’s refusal, the Court allowed the appeal against sentence only to the extent of reducing the driving disqualification from two years to one year: [2007] EWCA Crim 1787.
• Crown Court at Plymouth: On 2 March 2007, Judge Gilbert QC sentenced the applicant to 16 months’ imprisonment and disqualified him from driving for two years.