A CHARITY founder and farmer from Mid Wales has been banned from driving for six months, after he was given three points for ignoring a motorway traffic light signal.
Patrick Holden, who founded the Sustainable Food Trust in 2010 and runs an organic dairy farm, appeared at Llandrindod Wells Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, December 9.
Holden, 75, had previously admitted a charge of failing to comply with a lane closure signal on the M4 in Gloucestershire on January 27, this year.
Holden had argued that his business and the charity would cause exceptional hardship if he were banned from driving, but magistrates told him the threshold for exceptional hardship had not been met.
The court heard that at the time of the offence, Holden, of Bwlchwernen Fawr, Llangybi, near Lampeter, had nine points on his driving licence.
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This offence carries a mandatory penalty of three points, which would push Holden on to 12 – at this point motorists with 12 points become known as ‘totters’, and are liable to be disqualified for six months.
Representing himself on Tuesday, Holden said: “I’d like to apologise for the offence. I was in a queue to get in traffic.
“I’m a farmer and I make a cheese called Hafod, and we also grow vegetables, such as carrots.
“Obviously, driving is pretty central to our farming activity. I have two sons who work with me, aged 21 and 24, and they are capable of driving, of course.
“They could step in but they don’t have the necessary skills required yet to drive trailers, for example,
“I’m also a director of a charity based in Bristol, which employs 17 people, and I am there on a weekly basis, as well as London, while I also travel abroad.
“I work with farming and food and typically drive about 40,000 miles a year.”
When asked how a ban would affect his livelihood, Holden said: “I could manage, certainly, but it would cause me great difficulties.
“It would not be impossible but it would certainly be severely challenging.”
Magistrates deliberated but chair of the bench, Ingrid Gallagher, told Holden – who had driven to the hearing – that he would be disqualified.
“We have tried to find exceptional hardship, but the bar has not been reached,” she told him.
Holden was banned for six months, but he can appeal the decision. He was also fined £768 and must pay a £307 surcharge and £120 costs – a total of £1,195.
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