Op Limit: 15 people in court over drink and drug driving offences

Op Limit, our annual drink and drug driving campaign, helped put 15 people before the courts on Monday 19 December.  

Op Limit aims to take dangerous drivers off the streets of Merseyside and officers from the Matrix Roads Policing Unit and colleagues across the force are determined to stop motorists who get behind the wheel when they are over the limit of alcohol or drugs.

On Monday 19^th December, there were 15 people who were due for sentencing on drink or drug driving charges.

Seven of these people were banned from driving for a combined total of nine years and eight months and a further five people received interim driving disqualifications pending further hearings.

Three people failed to attend court and they have now been arrested.

These court results come only days after we revealed how 300 people have now been arrested through Op Limit since the campaign first began on 21 November.

Some of the sentences are as follows:

• Jack Facenfield, 29, of Springfield Crescent, Huyton, was found guilty of driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit. He has been banned from driving for 12 months and given a £710 fine.

• Daniel Walsh, 26, of Birtles Road, Warrington, was found guilty of driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit. He was banned from driving for 18 months and fined £745.

• Curtis Stokes, 27, of Linsdale Crescent, Kirkby, was found guilty of driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit. He was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £308.

• Michael Dann, 34, of York Avenue, Poulton, was found guilty of driving a motor vehicle with a proportion of a specified controlled drug above the specified limit. He was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £505.

• Bartosz Madry, 38, of Scoresby Road, Leasowe, was found guilty of driving a vehicle when alcohol level was above the limit. He was banned from driving for 12 months and fined £288.

Roads Policing Sergeant Tim Pottle said: “These sentences highlight how people caught drink or drug driving will face very serious consequences for their reckless actions.

“As we approach the final few weeks of our Op Limit campaign, we are again urging people to think twice before getting behind the wheel with alcohol or drugs in their system.

“Even after Op Limit ends on Monday 2 January, we will continue our efforts to stop dangerous motorists on our streets.

“If you do drive under the influence of drink, drugs, or both, you are putting your own safety at risk, the safety of everyone in your vehicle, and the safety of every other road user you come across on your journey. Think of the consequences before drink or drug driving – a crash or conviction can shatter many lives including your own.”

Op Limit, which will continue to run until Monday 2 January 2023, coincides with Operation Shepherd, which is Merseyside Police's annual campaign to reduce crime and keep communities safe during the festive season.

If you have information about anyone who is driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs, please contact @MerPolCC, 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Always call 999 if a crime is in progress.