A “prolific traffic offender” has been sentenced to six months behind bars.

Patrick Richardson Jr, 36, admitted having care and control of a vehicle and refusing to take a breath test when he appeared in Magistrates’ Court earlier this year and reappeared in court this week for sentencing.

The court heard that Corporation of Hamilton staff found Richardson asleep in the driver’s seat of his car at the junction of Pitts Bay Road and Bermudiana Road on December 19.

Richardson, from Hamilton Parish, had the key in the ignition, was unsteady on his feet when he stepped out of the vehicle and refused to take a breath test at Hamilton Police Station.

Richardson was sentenced to four years behind bars in 2016 for killing La-Nae Woodley and seriously injuring Diedre Morgan by dangerous driving in April 2015.

Prosecutor Audley Quallo told the court that Richardson had acquired seven driving-related offences, which range from not stopping after an accident to having no third-party insurance, on his record within the past two years.

Mr Quallo said this record showed that Richardson was “not of good character” and suggested that he be sentenced to six months behind bars and be disqualified from driving all vehicles until January 2026.

Charles Richardson, for the defendant, said the incident in December should not be grouped with Richardson’s other convictions, which did not involve alcohol.

Mr Richardson requested that his client be fined $1,500 — the standard fine for first-time impaired driving offenders — but accepted that he should be disqualified from driving until 2026.

Senior magistrate Maxanne Anderson called Richardson a “prolific traffic offender”, and said that “fines and disqualifications are not enough to deter him from committing these very serious offences”.

She added: “The court feels [it has] no other option but to sentence the defendant to prison to deter him and others from committing similar offences.”

Richardson will serve six months in prison for both offences and will be disqualified from driving all vehicles for 18 months once his prison sentence ends.

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