AN Erskine man has been jailed after he was twice caught driving while disqualified in the space of a week.

Sheroz Tahir, 29, appeared from custody for sentencing at Dumbarton Sheriff Court last week.

He was found to have driven on the A82, near Inverbeg, while disqualified, and therefore without valid insurance, on June 19 this year.

Tahir committed the offence having been granted bail in December for separate incidents and breached a curfew order by being outwith his home between the hours of 7pm and 7am.

The court was told police were on patrol in a marked vehicle on the A82 when they received a radio message at around 7.45pm on June 19 about a complaint over the way a white Range Rover was being driven.

Officers spotted the vehicle travelling south and ordered Tahir to pull over.
A police check found he had been disqualified from driving for six months.

Just five days later, on June 24, Tahir was pulled over in Clydebank by the same officers, who had been carrying out vehicle checks and recognised his car.

Tahir, who is managing director of medical supplies wholesaler Cynosure, which operates out of Clydebank Business Park, had been held in custody since that date before appearing in the dock last week.

His solicitor told the hearing: “He has suffered significant financial loss as a result of his incarceration.

“There is only one person responsible for that.”

The court was told Tahir had become addicted to benzodiazepines following the death of his gran, while his mother had also passed away from coronavirus recently.

“He had been using prescription drugs as a crutch to cope with bereavement,” the solicitor added.

“He has plainly breached a number of court orders, he has done so against a backdrop of poor thinking whilst addicted to benzodiazepines.”

Tahir, who has a degree in accounting, was sentenced to 106 days behind bars, backdated to the time of his first offence.

Sheriff Frances McCartney also banned him from the roads for a total of 31 months and imposed a Community Payback Order with a supervision requirement of 12 months that will see him carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

She told Tahir: “This has been, at best, a very unfortunate series of events but you are clearly an intelligent man.

“It is up to you to make sure that you do not appear in these courts again.”