A PENRITH farmer has been given a fresh 12-month driving ban and a curfew after police caught him driving while he was disqualified.

Twenty-six-year-old Christopher Stainton -  said by probation staff to have developed a pattern of “reckless behaviour while behind the wheel of vehicles - initially denied the offence of driving while disqualified. 

But on the day the trial was due to get underway, the defendant, from Renwick, near Penrith, admitted the offence.

Prosecutor George Shelley told Carlisle’s Rickergate court that on February 1 police saw a Vauxhall Corsa parked on Beacon Edge, Penrith, with the engine switched off and Stainton slumped in the driver’s seat.

He was then seen driving away.

A short time later, police found the vehicle parked and Stainton and a female were seen about ten metres away from the vehicle.

The court heard that the defendant’s criminal record consisted of 12 offences, the last conviction being in September 2022 when he was given a suspended eight-month sentence for causing somebody grievous bodily harm, when he fractured a man's jaw in Penrith town centre.

The disqualified driving offence was committed during that sentence’s two-year suspension period, the court heard. The February 1 offence was the first disqualified driving offence on Stainton’s record, but he was previously prosecuted for dangerous driving.

The driving ban imposed for that offence still had six months to run.

Defence lawyer Andrew Gurney said the defendant currently worked with his father on the family farm, with his hours ranging from 5am to 10pm.

District Judge John Temperley said he was satisfied the latest offence merited a community order and it was Stainton’s first disqualified driving offence. He imposed a 12-month community order which includes ten rehabilitation activity days.

There will also be a two-month electronically monitored curfew, which will run each day between 8pm and 5am. The judge pointed out that the new driving ban will add a further six months to the defendant’s period of disqualification.

Stainton must pass an extended driving test before he is allowed to drive independently.

He must also pay £400 costs and a £114 victim surcharge. The defendant's driving licence was endorsed for the offence of driving with no insurance, which he also admitted.

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