MOTORIST Roger Comley told magistrates he didn't deserve to be allowed to drive again after admitting a string of other motoring offences.

Comley, 23, from Longcroft Avenue, Devizes, pleaded guilty to careless driving, failing to stop after an accident, failing to report it and driving without a licence or insurance when he appeared before Kennet magistrates last Thursday.

Anna Humphreys, prosecuting, said that a woman in the kitchen of her home in Cromwell Road, Devizes, at 6.30pm on New Year's Day heard the sounds of a car revving and then a crash. She ran outside to see a car at right angles across the pavement and its front severely damaged. A Vauxhall van had also been badly damaged.

She saw Comley, who had injured his knee, get out of the car and limp away with the person in the car with him.

Comley, who was not represented by a solicitor, handed in a letter from his father, explaining that, due to his ill health, Comley had had to take on financial responsibility for the family.

In his own defence, Comley told the court that the car had slid on ice. He had had an argument with someone and was not thinking straight at the time of the accident.

The court was told that Comley had been banned from driving for 18 months in June 2000 after accumulating more than 12 penalty points on his licence. His expired provisional licence now had eight penalty points on it, from previous convictions for driving without insurance.

Comley said: "I don't deserve to drive again, really."

Presiding magistrate Terry Fell said he and his colleagues had discounted Comley's fines in recognition of his position as breadwinner for the family but urged him to get advice on care allowances. He said: "Make sure you are legal before you decide to drive again."

Comley was fined £50 and banned from driving for two years for having no insurance and £25 for careless driving.