Arthur Edwin Tai Jones: Mt Barker man “caught red-handed” driving on a suspended licence nine times sentenced

A Mt Barker man has been sentenced to three months in prison after being “caught red-handed” driving on a suspended licence for the ninth time. Arthur Edwin Tai Jones, 46, appeared in Albany Magistrates Court on January 12 on one charge of exceeding 0.08g of alcohol per 100ml of blood and one charge of driving on a licence which was already suspended. Jones pleaded guilty to both charges. Police prosecutor Sgt Mike Russell told the court Jones was stopped by police while he was travelling south on Mt Barker Road about 10.40pm on November 19. The court was told Jones attempted to hide from the view of police officers by lying across the front seats of his car. He was breathalysed and returned a blood alcohol content reading of 0.08 and admitted that his driver’s licence was disqualified. Defence lawyer Raymond Muir told the court Jones had initially drawn the attention of police as he had been unintentionally driving with his headlights off after stopping at an ATM. Mr Muir said Jones had “a few beers” before driving into Mt Barker from the property he works at about 15km outside of town. “(He) does admit they found him lying on that front seat,” Mr Muir said. He said Jones “wished to express his remorsefulness” to the court. “He knows he’s done the wrong thing,” Mr Muir said. “The offences themselves have been a catalyst for him to realise he has a problem.” Sgt Russell told the court previous suspended prison orders Jones had received for driving on a suspended licence were “clearly not working” and he had put himself at risk of immediate prison time. Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said the facts of the November 19 offence were “not particularly spectacular”, but it was a significant incident as it marked Jones’ eighth conviction and ninth offence of driving on a suspended licence. The court was told the offence had occurred about 10 days after Jones had completed his most recent suspended prison order. She said Jones demonstrated a “complete contemptuous disregard for court orders” by driving despite having a suspended licence. Ms Scaddan admonished Jones as a “grown man who’s been here before”. “Your plea of guilty is as much about being caught red-handed as it is demonstrating remorse,” Ms Scaddan said. Jones was given a 12-month prison term, with three months served immediately, and the remaining nine months suspended. He was fined $1600 for the excess 0.08 charge and had his licence disqualified for a further eight months.