THE husband of a terminally-ill woman broke down in tears as he was jailed for driving while disqualified.

Bradford Crown Court heard how Stephen Hart, of Brooklands, Bradley, had three times been caught driving while banned - once after having to leave his cancer-stricken wife at hospital.

She is currently being cared for in Kirkwood Hospice.

Yesterday 42-year-old Hart was led away in tears after a judge and two magistrates rejected his appeal against a prison term.

The hearing at Bradford Crown Court was told Hart had been given a suspended prison sentence by Huddersfield magistrates in October for two offences of driving while banned.

But when he was caught behind the wheel a third time just a week after his court appearance, magistrates sentenced him to five months in prison.

Hart was granted bail pending an appeal against that decision.

Yesterday, his prison term was upheld, but reduced to four months.

Confirming the sentence, Judge Geoffrey Kamil commented: "There are times, I've got to say, when I don't particularly enjoy doing the type of job that I'm doing and this is one of those times."

But he told Hart: "I've got to take the view the magistrates were absolutely right and a custodial sentence is the only way of dealing with you in these circumstances."

Barrister Giles Bridge, for Hart, outlined how one of the offences related to him driving his wife's car from a hospital after she had been admitted following a routine visit.

On another occasion, the couple had been moving to a new home in Bradley.

He said Hart had panicked after realising vital documents had not been signed just hours before all the paperwork should have been completed.