A Hungarian man who skipped his court hearing was arrested as he flew home, a court heard.

Tamas Benko, 43, had been due at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court to face charges of driving while disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance.

When he missed his hearing on June 7 magistrates ordered his arrest.

Yesterday he appeared at the court in custody, having been arrested at Liverpool Airport upon his return from Hungary.

Benko pleaded guilty to the offences which happened in Huddersfield on January 23.

Police stopped his Mercedes during routine checks and discovered he was a banned driver.

Kirklees Magistrates Court, Huddersfield.

Benko, of West Acre Drive in Batley, had been disqualified from driving by magistrates in Mansfield the previous November.

The hearing took place in his absence, District Judge Peter Johnson heard.

Zahid Majeed, mitigating, explained that the labourer did not know that he was a banned driver until his arrest.

He said: “He was shocked to hear that he had been disqualified – he can not read or write English and didn’t respond to the correspondence.

“He’d had an emergency with his mum becoming unwell and was arrested from the airport upon his return.

“This was a further shock as a warrant had been executed and he didn’t know about it.”

Judge Johnson ordered a probation report prior to sentencing him.