A MOTORIST prosecuted for transporting cannabis on the M6 near Carlisle got himself into more trouble – by stealing back his car after a judge ordered it to be seized.

Asif Mahmood, 61, was given a suspended sentence at the city’s crown court after he pleaded guilty to transporting six kilos of cannabis.

He committed that offence – possessing the class B drug with intent to supply – on March 3. Yet a Carlisle Crown Court judge drew back from immediately jailing him after defence lawyer Jeff Smith outlined mitigation for the defendant.

The judge imposed a six-month jail term, suspending the sentence for 18 months. The defendant was also told that he would be banned from driving for six months as further punishment.

He was also told that his car – because it had been used in his offending – would be forfeited. Yet within days of him walking free from the court, Mahmood had tracked down his seized car and taken it back.

At Carlisle’s Rickergate court, the defendant, of Storths Road, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to four new offences. They were:

* Stealing his car from an Egerton’s compound at Kingstown, Carlisle,  on May 15, three days after his crown court appearance.

* Driving while disqualified.

* Driving while not insured.

* And breaching his suspended sentence order.

Prosecutor George Shelley said the defendant had arrived at the Egerton’s recovery centre in Carlisle and reclaimed the car after showing staff there his driving licence, which he has now surrendered.

He had then illegally driven it.

Mr Smith, defending, urged District Judge John Temperley to grant the defendant bail until he is sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court for his latest offending.  The judge did grant bail.

He ruled that the defendant should appear at the crown court for sentence on June 23 when the presiding judge will decide whether to activate the suspended six-month sentence. He warned Mahmood that he remains banned from driving.