The Belper News reports that Gareth Warne, 32, was banned for 12 months last October for drink-driving. He was then spotted driving a BMW by police, who confirmed he was a banned driver. That means he was also driving without insurance. He pleaded guilty to both charges.
His defence was obviously completely out of ideas and offered the following pathetic mitigation:
…the former groundsman committed the offence when he had expected a lift to work but had been let down.
This was enough to fool the magistrates, who gave Warne a paltry 12 week prison sentence – and suspended it for 12 months.
Warne should have been put away for long enough for his stupidity to sink in. As it is, the extant stupidity of the magistrates is almost no punishment at all.