Defendant asks Haverfordwest magistrates 'What is a name?'

The defendant, who was brought into court in custody, kept asking the three presiding magistrates what was meant by ‘a name’. He then turned the question on them.

“What are your names, please?” he asked them. The magistrates refused to supply him with the information he requested.

The defendant was arrested on August 28 after police officers became concerned at the standard of his driving as he approached Arnolds Hill on the A40, heading towards Haverfordwest.

“He was swerving all over the road and it was clear that the officers had concerns about his standard of driving,” said Crown Prosecutor Sian Vaughan.

“He overtook a vehicle at the brow of the hill and the number plate of his vehicle was cracked and hanging off.”

When the officers stopped the vehicle, they discovered it was being driven by the defendant with one passenger sitting in the front of the vehicle.

Smelling cannabis, the officers requested a drug swipe from the defendant, but he refused. He also refused to give them details of his name and identity.

“He was obstructive throughout the process,” said Ms Vaughan. “He refused to provide samples and he refused to engage with the officers.”

And the defendant’s failure to comply continued when he was brought before Haverfordwest magistrates on Tuesday morning, August 29.

After asking him on repeated occasions to supply his name, the court’s legal advisor had little alternative but to request the District Judge to take over via a video link from Llanelli Magistrates Court.

Within minutes of Mark Leyton taking over, Oshean O’Riley, 34, provided the court with his name and address which is in Cardiff, as well as his occupation, which is an electrician.

He also pleaded guilty to failing to provide a roadside drug swipe and of driving without due care and attention.

O’Riley was ordered to pay the courts a total of £505 and his licence was endorsed with four penalty points.