A disqualified drink-driver who was caught behind the wheel with a pregnant woman as a passenger has been jailed.

Police saw Jamie Marsh driving a silver Jeep Commander in Old Shoreham Road, Hove, at about 6.30pm on July 9, just three weeks after he had been banned from driving.

PC Neil Hersey and PC Brendan Slattery pulled him over and were given a false name, with Marsh claiming his name was Stephen Paul Marsh, and a fake date of birth.

Marsh, 38, unemployed of Phoenix Rise, Brighton, was charged and remanded in custody to appear before Brighton Magistrates’ Court on July 10.

He admitted driving while disqualified, driving without insurance, possession of a class A drug, and drink-driving.

The court was told how Marsh tested positive for 63 microgrammes (mcg) of alcohol per 100 millilitres (ml) of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

He was sentenced to ten weeks in prison, with a further three-year driving disqualification and £156 victim surcharge.

PC Hersey said: “We approached the vehicle in the car park at Goldstone Retail Park, and it quickly became clear that Marsh was lying about his identity.

“That is because he is a prolific offender for driving while banned, with multiple disqualifications dating back to 2017.

“It was shocking that he was over the alcohol limit with a pregnant passenger and young child in the car.

“It is even more shocking to know that he had been in court three weeks earlier for drink-driving and had been given a suspended prison sentence.

“That should have been warning enough, yet here he was, once again, back on the roads while nearly double the legal limit for alcohol.

“We knew it was important to safely stop the vehicle, and we ensured the safety of the passenger and child before taking Marsh to custody.”

Marsh has appeared before the courts for driving incidents before.

Magistrates heard on June 19 how officers had seen him driving while using a mobile phone while driving a Ford Transit van at 2.45pm on June 16 in Kings Road, Brighton.

At first he told officers he would give his phone to his passenger next time.

The officers could smell alcohol on his breath and asked Marsh to complete a roadside breath test, which he failed.

He said: “I only had one pint at lunch, can I take the test again?”

Marsh was also convicted for two counts of drug-driving, drink-driving, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified and driving a car in which a young child had no appropriate seatbelt or child car seat on May 15, 2021, in Coombe Road, Brighton.

He tested positive for cannabis and cocaine in his system. He admitted all these offences at court hearings on September 7 and December 7 last year.

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His previous offences also include bans for drug driving and driving while disqualified in Southwick on October 26, 2021, and driving while disqualified in 2018 after being given a three-year ban in 2017.

PC Hersey said: “We are determined to stop drink and drug-drivers as these are among the main causes of people being killed or seriously injured on our roads.

“We are pleased that a dangerous driver like Marsh has been taken off our roads before he causes any risk of harm to himself, to his passengers or to everyone else using our roads.”