A PENSIONER who clocked up his 11th banned driving conviction when he was caught behind the wheel of a Rover 75 told police he “didn’t give a monkeys about the law”.

Pinehurst man Richard Ackerman was five months into his latest three-year driving ban when police found him in his beaten-up L-plate Rover Sterling.

The 68-year-old told police he had been trying to move the car from his driveway to a nearby garage after the council ordered him to move the Rover and another mouldering motor from the property.

After admitting his 11th driving while disqualified offence, Ackerman was given a 12-month community order, fined £100 and had six months added to his driving ban.

Swindon magistrates branded the smartly-dressed OAP a menace. Chairman of the bench Jane Flew bridled: “You have an appalling history of driving whilst disqualified. You are a menace to other road users because despite lengthy bans, prison sentences and community orders you still meddle with cars and are tempted to get behind the wheel of a car.”

Prosecuting, Pauline Lambert said police were called on April 6 to Acacia Grove, Pinehurst, following reports of a unlicensed driver getting behind the wheel of his untaxed car.

Ackerman told the officer he had driven the car from his driveway, a distance of roughly 30 metres.

“Mr Ackerman was disqualified from driving until December 2021. The vehicle was then uninsured and had no MOT,” Ms Lambert said.

Interviewed by police, Ackerman accepted he was banned from driving at the car had no test certificate.

But he gave officers a bizarre explanation, telling them he “didn’t give a monkeys about the law”. He added: “The life I’m living is way beyond anything to do with the law.”

Ms Lambert said Ackerman had 10 previous convictions for driving while disqualified. The latest dated to November 2018 when he was jailed after leading police on a chase in Cornwall that only ended when the cops’ stinger brought his vehicle to a jolting halt.

Ackerman, of Acacia Grove, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, driving without insurance or a MOT.

Nicola Smailes, defending, said her client had long suffered from mental health problems. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1987.

At the time of the latest offending he had been taking a new kind of medication, which had had an adverse effect on him.

He was said to now be correctly medicated, had sought help from the Haven charity and was working closely with his probation officer.

Adding that her client was remorseful, Miss Smailes said: “Really, life is more stable now than it has ever been – and certainly since the 1980s.”

Magistrates ordered that Ackerman complete up to 20 rehabilitation activity days and pay £175 in costs and surcharge.