A DISQUALIFIED motorist who failed to take an extended test after his ban for dangerous driving ran out is facing jail for getting behind the wheel again.

Peter Jones was gradually managing to turn his life around after coming off drugs, magistrates were told.

Prosecutor Stacey Turner said that 19-year-old Jones, who had six previous convictions for driving while banned, was stopped by police on the morning of October 3 during a routine check.

When officers realised that he shouldn't be on the road, he said that he had contacted the DVLA and had been told the ban was finished.

Swindon JPs heard that he was disqualified for 12 months in October 2002 after being convicted of dangerous driving, and in April last year he had been sent to a young offenders institution for two offences of driving while disqualified.

Jones, of Devizes Road, admitted driving while banned on October 3 and having no insurance.

His solicitor, Lee Mott, said that he had bought his Fiesta car from a man in a pub and had decided to drive it to a lock-up garage where repairs could be carried out. He said that it was a mistake.

Mr Mott said that his client was only stopped by the police because the exhaust was hanging dangerously close to the road not because of the way he was driving.

He said that Jones's last substantial rash of offending had been back in 2003 and since that time he had made progress in changing his life.

He had come off drugs, renewed his relationship with his family, and was applying for Jobseekers allowance.

If he was sent to jail, that progress would be halted and he could turn back to his previous lifestyle, argued Mr Mott.

He added that Jones suffered from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and that could have impeded his understanding of the court's instructions to take an extended test before driving again.

The bench adjourned the hearing until October 29 for pre-sentence reports.

Tina Clarke