He was among 17 people who appeared in court yesterday after police targeted drivers who were drifting and road racing, at speeds of up to 80mph on a 40 mph stretch of dual-carriageway near the shopping centre in Thurrock, Essex. Magistrates gave Watts six penalty points for driving at 67 mph, meaning he was automatically disqualified for nine months as he already had six points on his license for previous offences of speeding and using a mobile phone while driving. Chief Insp Ben Hodder, who led the crackdown, tweeted. 'Someone who was disqualified from driving at court today #Opwagtail decided to ignore the court and try and drive anyway arrested.
Sgt Simon Willsher, who led the crackdown said Watts was arrested monuments after he left court and charged on suspicion of driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. He will return to Basildon Magistrates Court on October 17, where he is due to enter a plea. Watts of Walworth, south east London had earlier claimed he could not pay his 183 pounds fine as he had just 1 pound on him.
Racing 'cruises' regularly occur raound Lakeside most weekends with up to 1,800 cars from as far away as Kent. London and even Manchester participating, while hundreds of spectators line the kerbs to watch. Since Operation Wagtail took place in April and May and numbers have dropped significantly, with police making more progress in the last six months than in the past 15 years. Sgt Willsher added that it's good so many boy racers have been brought to court because it means we can deal with the issue but at the same time I wish we didn't have any of them up at all because that would mean we don't have a problem in the first place.
We have this issue with cruising all over the county but we are prioritising Lakeside because of the extra danger of all the pedestrians who line up to watch. In any other situation many of these people would have been offered speed awareness courses, but we are concerned about how dangerous these drivers are as much as their speed.