THE FIRST thing a motorist told police officers who stopped him late at night in Carlisle were: “I’m a disqualified driver.”

Though there was no evidence of bad driving, Rhys Thomas Hill, 25, committed the offence just seven months after he was banned for an almost identical offence, magistrates at the city’s Rickergate court heard.

The defendant, of Blackwell Road, Currock, admitted the latest offence on July 29 as well as having no insurance and failing to provide a blood specimen for analysis – though he claimed this was because of his "needle phobia".

The court heard that police stopped the defendant as he drove an Audi A3 on Blackwell Road purely because of his status as a banned driver. Prosecutor Carl Gaffney stressed that there was no concern about the defendant’s driving.

But of the claim that Hill suffered from a phobia, the prosecutor said it was accepted the defendant feared needles but this fell short of being a phobia.

Mark Shepherd, defending, told magistrates: “It’s difficult for him to give a good reason for what he was doing. It was late a night, there were not many people about, and he wasn’t impaired at the time.

“He just felt in essence that he’d get away with it; and that nobody was going to come to any harm. But to his dismay he was stopped; and ‘I’m a disqualified driver’ were the first words that came out of his mouth [to the officers].”

At the roadside, Hill provided a negative alcohol breath test result but there was a positive result for a drugs swipe.

Mr Shepherd continued: “He did consume some cocaine three or four days before but he was lucid and able to follow instructions. When he got to the police station, the problems continued for him there because he does have a fear of needles."

The defendant was not heavily convicted and nor did he pose a significant risk to the public, said Mr Shepherd.

After making references to "positive character references" that were put before the court, and warning that custody would lead to Hill losing his job with a large Carlisle employer, Mr Shepherd added: “There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation."

The lawyer added that Hill recognised he had put his progress at work at risk because of his "foolish decision" that night.

Passing sentence, magistrates pointed out that Hill was already serving a community order for similar offending at the time of his latest offence. They imposed 16 weeks jail but suspended the sentence for a year.

They also imposed a three-year driving ban and 10 rehabilitation activity days. He must complete the 30 hours of unpaid work that was part of his earlier community order. “This is really serious,” warned the presiding magistrate.

The defendant must also pay £85 and a £154 victim surcharge.