Drink-driving Wakefield roofer who gave relative's ex-boyfriend's name to police to avoid ban is jailed

Roofer Shaun Hinchcliffe was jailed this week after admitting that he attempted to pervert the course of justice when he gave the false name, date of birth and address to the patrolling officers. They had pulled him over on Wakefield Road, Sharlston Common, Wakefield, at around 8pm on May 8, last year. A woman was a passenger in the van, along with the two children.

Leeds Crown Court heard that the police ran the details he provided through the system and they initially appeared to fit. But when his fingerprints were taken at the police station in Normanton around an hour later, his true identity was uncovered. He had blown 64 mcgs of alcohol in 100 mls of breath. The legal limit is 35 mcgs.

The 42-year-old, of Balne Avenue, Wakefield, has 16 previous convictions for 35 offences, prosecutor Louise Pryke told the court. He was later dealt with by the magistrates’ court for the drink-driving charge, for which he received a 16-month driving ban and was fined £120.

Mitigating, Benjamin Bell said Hinchcliffe ran his own roofing business which employed five people, but he has been unable to work because of back and knee problems. He said that should Hinchcliffe be jailed, his business could fold.

But Judge Simon Batiste said that if he is currently unfit to work, questioned how the business was still operating. Saying it “did not fit together”, he jailed him for four months.