Comment: It's time to act on menace of drink drivers (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Comment: It's time to act on menace of drink drivers

4:40pm Monday 16th July 2012 in Opinion

A SHAKE-UP in the sentencing of persistent banned drivers seems long overdue.

Alcoholic Robert Khan has just chalked up his 38th conviction for driving whilst disqualified.

At the time of the offence he was nearly three times the drink drive limit - the 10th time he has been convicted of an excess alcohol related offence.

Three months earlier he was warned he would be sent to prison if he offended again when a judge gave him a suspended sentence.

Khan will now spend just one year in prison and be banned from the road for three years.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson has branded the sentence as ‘outrageously lenient’.

But he said the courts cannot be blamed because they are just following sentencing guidelines.

Instead he wants a review of the whole system, allowing harsher sentences for people who repeatedly flout the law.

Road safety charities also say that stiffer sentences are needed to pose a greater deterrent to offenders.

Anyone who knowingly gets behind the wheel of a vehicle while drunk is a menace and deserves the toughest of penalties.

In the worst cases lifetime bans should be handed out.

The sooner the whole issue is looked at the better.