A 36-year-old who was convicted of causing death by dangerous driving eight years ago has been jailed for 12 weeks after getting behind the wheel again despite being disqualified.
Last year, Danny Warby stole a JCB forklift from a property in Mundford while drunk, drove it into a fence and collided with the owner of the forklift who went after him in a van, a court has heard.
Warby was disqualified from driving for 10 years in 2016 and jailed for six years after a jury found him guilty of causing the death of mother-of-two Det Con Sharon Garrett in June 2014.
Last December, Warby found himself in court again for getting behind the wheel while more than three times the alcohol limit.
On Thursday, he appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court via a video link as he is currently serving a prison sentence for another drink-driving offence.
At a previous hearing, Warby admitted to driving above the specified alcohol limit, aggravated vehicle taking, causing criminal damage and driving without any insurance.
The series of events took place on November 1 last year, when police received a 999 call at 8.40pm from the owner of the JCB saying that his vehicle had been taken from Mundford.
Warby, of no fixed address but believed to be from the Thetford area, had secured a generic forklift key, taken the vehicle and proceeded to drive off.
It was during this time that Warby crashed the JCB into an Ickburgh resident’s fence and continued driving.
The owner of the JCB decided to follow Warby in his van, and pulled up beside him, shouting for the defendant to stop.
However, Warby did not stop, but the van did, and Warby crashed into the side of the van.
Prosecutor Lesla Small told the court that Warby picked up a nearby hammer when he eventually came to a stop.
Police arrived at the scene and Warby was arrested. A breath test was carried out which came back with a reading of 88mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. The legal limit to drive is 35mcg.
While being interviewed by officers, he admitted stealing a forklift key from where he was working on a farm at the time and said: “I done wrong, I know that.”
He confessed to officers that he had decided to steal the forklift in the hope of selling it to fund his drink and drug habit.
In mitigation, Andrew Cogan said that Warby “cooperated fully” with police when he was arrested.
Mr Cogan added that Warby did not threaten to hit anybody with the hammer, but was holding it to prevent the owner of the JCB from hitting him.
For taking the JCB, he was given 12 weeks in prison and a 25-month driving disqualification.
Magistrates, led by John Hare, gave Warby a further 12-week prison sentence for driving while disqualified - which will run concurrently with his other sentence.
For causing criminal damage and drink-driving, Warby was handed two further four-week prison sentences - again running concurrently.
He will also pay a victim surcharge of £154.