Banned driver took the wheel because of snow

A JAIL sentence hangs over a banned driver who took the wheel to get to a wedding.

Troy Haynes’ BMW 325 convertible was stopped on the northbound carriageway of the M1 after a police computer flagged up the vehicle as uninsured.

Haynes, of Sorrel Drive, Woodville, told officers he was the registered keeper and admitted he was disqualified from driving until November 2014.

Magistrates at Chesterfield heard that he had received a three-year disqualification last November for a drink-driving offence.

“He said he had made a stupid decision to drive and he was going to a friend's wedding in Nottinghamshire,” said Mike Treharne, prosecuting.

Annette Thomas, for Haynes, said: “His wife was driving to the wedding.

“Snow was falling and it became quite heavy.

“She was involved in a near-fatal accident in snow and ice in Scotland in 2002 and she panicked. She was very nervous because of the injury she suffered on that occasion and that's why he took it upon himself to drive.”

Haynes, 45, admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance on the morning of February 4.

He committed the same offences in 2004, the year after he was banned for his first drink-driving offence.

The court imposed a 12-week jail term but suspended it for a year. They also gave him a new three-year driving ban, a oneyear probation supervision order and 100 hours of unpaid work, with £85 costs.

The court heard Haynes had to re-train following an injury at work and was awaiting confirmation of a job offer.