Prolific motoring offender Nelson Hilden has never taken driving test
by Paul Hooper
Nelson Hilden committed his first motoring offence in October
1975 - and was promptly banned from driving.
Since then, he had racked up more than 100 crimes,
many of them stealing cars and driving while disqualified.
Now the 53-year-old has been caught stealing and driving
again... even though in more than 37 years he has never taken a
driving test.
And a judge told him: "You have got to stop driving without
insurance and without a licence. You have never even passed a test.
Just look at your record... you do it again and again."
Hilden, of Goteley Mere, Kennington, near Ashford, was jailed
for 13 months after admitting theft of a laptop and more motoring
offences.
James Bilsland, prosecuting, had told Canterbury Crown
Court how Hilden had driven to the Devil's Kneading Trough
Restaurant in Wye and stolen the computer from a parked car.
The offence in October last year came just a few months after he
had been freed early from a six-year sentence for burglary
following raids on three cash machines.
Hilden - who had been living in Gallants Lane, East
Farleigh, near Maidstone - at the time, had targeted ATMs in
vulnerable rural premises in Lyminge, Wye and Lenham.
Again he had used stolen vehicles, which were then used on the
ram raids.
"What would happen if you had an accident and of the people who might be injured...” – Judge James O'Mahony
The court heard he
has now made 43 court appearances for 101 offences - many of
them taking cars without consent, theft, burglary and more than
five driving while disqualified and also without a licence and
insurance.
Paul Hogben, defending, said Hilden had been determined to go
straight after being freed from the 2009 sentence, but slipped back
into his thieving ways after the death of his mother.
But Judge James O'Mahony told him: "Have you got no regard for
other people? What would happen if you had an accident and of the
people who might be injured. It's about time you reflect on
that.
"The time has come to put an end to all this. If you continue to
drive while disqualified – and no doubt police will be keeping an
eye out for that – you will end up with even more prison
sentences."
He jailed Hilden and banned him from driving for another 12
months.
25/01/13
- Click here for more Ashford news...
- Click here for more news from across the county...