A motorist frustrated with queuing in traffic ran over road workers who were holding signs telling him to stop. A sentencing hearing at Mold Crown Court on Monday heard there was no reason Richard Pierce, 54, decided to jump the queue on the road between Ruthin and Clawddnewydd other than ignorance.

When officers from North Wales Police reached Pierce’s address later in the day he told them he did it because he “didn’t think much was happening” on the road. Prosecutor Karl Scholz told the court how Pierce had been driving on the B5105 at 10.10am on July 20 last year when he came to a stop in a queue of traffic.

The traffic was stopped by temporary stop signs being held by workers while their team resurfaced the road. Two workers at either side of the roadworks were holding signs with “go” and “stop” on either side, Wales Online reports.

At the time of the incident both of the men were holding signs showing “stop” to motorists while some work could be briefly carried out. The court heard how Pierce, who has a conviction for causing death by dangerous driving in 1995, waited in the traffic for around a minute before he “took the view that he could drive through the roadworks”.

At the time of the incident both of the men were holding signs showing “stop” to motorists while some work could be briefly carried out. The court heard how Pierce, who has a conviction for causing death by dangerous driving in 1995, waited in the traffic for around a minute before he “took the view that he could drive through the roadworks”.