A MAN who drove his girlfriend to Mamas and Papas while disqualified narrowly escaped being sent to jail.
Malcolm Joseph Taylor, 24, was driving along Leeds Road in Huddersfield to buy a baby sleeping bag from the superstore when police pulled him over on October 23.
Huddersfield Magistrates heard yesterday how Taylor had just been banned from getting behind a wheel only 10 days earlier. Vanessa Schofield, prosecuting, said: “Initially it was believed that he was driving without a licence but after making some enquiries to Dewsbury Police Station they discovered he had been banned for six months by Leeds Magistrates.
Taylor, of Pudsey, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and told the court he knew he should not have been driving – but had no money for alternative transport. He represented himself in front of Huddersfield magistrates and said: “I acknowledge what I have done is very stupid, I don’t intend to get behind a wheel again and I sincerely regret my actions.”
The Zimbabwe national told the court that a custodial sentence would damage his business and he would be lose his accommodation should he go to prison.
Chairman of Magistrates Malcolm Turner said: “We are going to give you 200 hours of unpaid work as a direct alternative to custody.”
Taylor was also given a 15- month driving ban and ordered to pay £350 in costs.
