Blackburn man charged after being stopped by police at Tesco

In the early hours of Thursday morning, December 21, a Fiat Panda was stopped at Tesco in Blackburn, as it showed as having no MOT.

The driver allegedly told police his licence has expired and reportedly tried to run away from officers and refused to provide a breath sample.

He was arrested by police on suspicion of criminal damage to a police vehicle and failure to provide a sample of breath.

Kevin Leonard, 40, of Honey Hole, Blackburn was charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis, common assault of an emergency worker, driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence, criminal damage, using a motor vehicle on a road without a valid test certificate and using a motor vehicle on a road without third party insurance.

Leonard is set to appear in court next April.

On Wednesday night, December 20, police stopped a Vauxhall Astra, at Charnock Richard Services.

The vehicle was spotted driving on the M6 at 100mph.

Upon searching, they found seven vacuum packed bags of cannabis, which looked to have been posted from America. The driver was also found to be disqualified.

Three 20-year-old men from London and a 19-year-old woman, also from London, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class B drugs.

All four have been bailed whilst our investigations continue.

A police spokesperson said: “Driving over 100 mph on the motorway?  Spotting us then slowing down to 80 mph?

“Being signalled to pull over then halving your speed and driving down the M6 at 40 mph? That’s suspicious.

“That’s also what our team spotted on Wednesday night (December 20).

“They stopped the vehicle, a Vauxhall Astra, at Charnock Richard Services. Upon searching, can you guess what they found?

“If you guessed vacuum packed bags of cannabis, which looked to have been posted from America, and a disqualified driver – you would be correct!

“Three 20-year-old men from London and a 19-year-old woman, also from London were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply class B drugs.

“All four have been bailed whilst our investigations continue.

“In the early hours of Thursday morning (December 21), a Fiat Panda was stopped at Tesco in Blackburn, as it showed as having no MOT.

“The driver later [allegedly] had an expired licence and attempted to run off from our officers. He then refused to provide a sample of breath at the roadside.

“He was arrested by our special operations team on suspicion of criminal damage to a police vehicle and failure to provide a sample of breath.

“Kevin Leonard, 40, of Honey Hole, Blackburn was charged with failing to provide a specimen for analysis, common assault of an emergency worker, driving a motor vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence, criminal damage, use a motor vehicle on a road without a valid test certificate and using a motor vehicle on a road without third party insurance. He was bailed to appear at Blackburn Magistrates Court on April 4, 2023.”