A disqualified driver was caught flouting his road ban twice in one week – just nine days after a court imposed it – and even brazenly drove his car away from a police station.
Maciej Zamiatala drove a 100-yard journey in his white Volkswagen Polo just nine days after he was first disqualified from driving.
Then five days after that, while collecting his car from Elgin police station, he got behind the wheel again.
But the 37-year-old’s decision to “blatantly ignore” the court order has landed him in jail and banned from driving once again.
Zamiatala appeared from custody at Elgin Sheriff Court where he also faced having his £5,000 car seized as part of his punishment.
Caught by unmarked police car
Fiscal depute Naomi Duffy-Welsh explained that Zamiatala was banned from driving on October 11 this year.
But just nine days later, on October 20, he was caught driving at the Tesco car park in his hometown of Forres.
And on October 25, he went with a friend to collect his seized car from Elgin police station, dishonestly assuring officers that his friend would be driving.
But when police followed him in an unmarked car, they found him in the driver’s seat yet again.
Zamiatala, a prisoner at HMP Inverness, admitted two counts of driving while disqualified and two counts of driving without insurance.
‘Ridiculous thing to have done’
Defence agent Stephen Carty said his client initially “did not understand the gravity” of the court order, but his time in custody since the second offence had made it clear to him.
The solicitor said the first offence at the supermarket was a journey of just 100 yards after Zamiatala “took a chance” to spend “two to three minutes driving his car from his home to Tesco”.
“He appreciates it was a ridiculous thing to have done, given the short distance involved,” he added.
Mr Carty said the second incident happened after his friend, who had fully intended to drive the car for him, ran out of time to do so.
“The process took longer than anticipated and his friend had to get to work,” he added.
“He then made the again very foolish decision to drive the vehicle back to Forres. In hindsight, he appreciates it was a foolish thing to have done.
“We have a gentleman who didn’t quite register the gravity of the situation he was in.
“That has been cured by the fact he has been remanded in custody for one month. He appears very contrite today.”
The court heard that Zamiatala’s mental health had suffered during the Coronavirus lockdown more than one year before and that he might benefit from a period of supervision.
Sentenced to time behind bars
However, Sheriff Eric Brown said he had “blatantly ignored” the court order and “whether he drove 100 yards or 100 miles doesn’t matter – he drove while disqualified just nine days earlier”.
He could find no alternative but to jail him.
Zamiatala, of North Road in Forres, was jailed for six months and banned from the road again for two years and eight months.
But the sheriff allowed him to keep his car.
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