Driving while disqualified

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if, while disqualified for holding or obtaining a licence, he—

(a) obtains a licence, or

(b) drives a motor vehicle on a road.

(2) A licence obtained by a person who is disqualified is of no effect (or, where the disqualification relates only to vehicles of a particular class, is of no effect in relation to vehicles of that class).

(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(4) Subsection (1) above does not apply in relation to disqualification by virtue of section 101 of this Act.

(5) Subsection (1)(b) above does not apply in relation to disqualification by virtue of section 102 of this Act.

(6) In the application of subsection (1) above to a person whose disqualification is limited to the driving of motor vehicles of a particular class by virtue of—

(a) section 102 117 or 117A of this Act, or

(b) subsection (9) of section 36 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 (disqualification until test is passed),

the references to disqualification for holding or obtaining a licence and driving motor vehicles are references to disqualification for holding or obtaining a licence to drive and driving motor vehicles of that class.

Section 103 RTA 1988 provides that a person is guilty of an offence if, while disqualified from holding or obtaining a licence, they obtain a licence, or drives a motor vehicle on a road.

A person who chooses to drive has a duty to ensure they are legally entitled to do so. It is no defence for that person to say that they thought a period of disqualification had expired, or that they were not aware that they had been disqualified in their absence.

A person disqualified under section 36 RTOA 1988 until a driving test is passed commits an offence under section 36 RTOA 1988 until a driving test is passed commits an offence under section 103 RTA 1988 if they drive otherwise than in accordance with any provisional licence issued.

Age prohibitions on driving are set out in section 101 RTA 1988. These are referred to as disqualification of persons under age. Driving whilst under age does not constitute an offence of driving whilst disqualified (by reason of age) under section 103 RTA 1988 by virtue of section 103(4) RTA 1988. A person who drives a vehicle on a road while disqualified by reason of age, commits an offence under section 87 RTA 1988, which prohibits a person driving a vehicle on a road otherwise than in accordance with a licence authorising him to do so.

Proof of disqualification is essential. In R v Derwentside Justices ex parte Heaviside [1996] RTR 384 the Court specified three ways in which a defendant could be proved to have been disqualified:

an admission under section 10 Criminal Justice Act 1967

fingerprint evidence pursuant to section 39 Criminal Justice Act 1948, and

evidence of a person who was present in court when the defendant was convicted on an earlier occasion and able to identify them as present in court

Recent cases have established that the three methods of identification of a person as described above were not exhaustive but merely examples.

In West Yorkshire Probation Board v Boulter [2005] EWHC 2342 (Admin); R v Burns [2006] EWCA Crim 617; and Olakunori v DPP [1998] COD 443 DC, it was established that there was no prescribed way that identification had to be proved as this could be proved by any admissible means. The above cases expanded upon the methods of proof outlined in R v Derwentside Justices ex parte Heaviside in particular allowing the prosecution to rely on similarity of name, date of birth and address.

The offence of driving whilst disqualified, although a summary offence, can be included in the indictment if founded on the same facts or evidence, or if it forms part of a series of offences of the same or similar character as an indictable offence which has also been charged - section 40 (3)(c) Criminal Justice Act 1988.