A DRIVER has notched up his 24th conviction for getting behind the wheel while banned.

The abysmal motoring record of Carlisle man Nicky Lee Griffiths had another crime added to it when he appeared before magistrates in the city yesterday.

He had been arrested while driving in the city on Saturday, the court heard.

Griffiths, 37, appeared from custody.

Prosecutor Peter Kelly told the court how police officers became aware that Griffiths had been seen driving a Honda Jazz car on Close Street.

That car was stopped just after 1pm and the defendant arrested.

Magistrates were told that Griffiths was already disqualified from driving for 18 months.

That was his punishment for a case of driving while disqualified from June 18.

Shouting from the dock, Griffiths, who admitted the latest offence, said he did not think he had been banned at that hearing.

But he was corrected on that fact during the hearing, and reminded that he had been in court.

Solicitor Chris Toms, for Griffiths, pointed out that his client pleaded guilty immediately and that the case was aggravated by previous offending.

Griffiths of Stonegarth, Morton, says he took illegal drugs earlier in his life and this has taken a toll on health, including leg ulcers.

Mr Toms added that Griffiths was previously sentenced to a curfew, and the electronic tag, this had to be put on his wrist, where it remains because of the problems he suffers with his legs.

His health issues were a hangover from his old lifestyle, the solicitor explained.

Sentencing, magistrates made him subject to a community order with a 20-week curfew.

That means that he must stay at his home between 8pm and 8am each day.

This, they ruled, will run from August 26, when the curfew from his previous offences ends.

On top of that, Griffiths was banned from driving from 19 months.

He was also ordered to pay court costs of £190.