A Ramsey motorist has been banned from driving for six months and fined £800 for driving while disqualified.

Paolo Nuvoletta, aged 37, of Brookhill Road, had the assistance of an Italian interpreter in court and admitted the offence.

Nuvoletta was given a two-year ban in 2009 and had to retake his test at the end of it.

On October 25 last year a witness called 999 with concerns over a child passenger in a Mercedes being driven in Queen’s Pier Road, Ramsey. Police spoke to Nuvoletta and he admitted he was the driver.

He told officers: ’I’ve been driving for two years. I’ve got an Italian licence. I’ve spoken to people in Douglas, they know, it’s getting changed to an Isle of Man licence.’

Defence advocate Rebecca Cubbon said it was a ’genuine mistake’, adding: ’Mr Nuvoletta didn’t drive for some six years until he went to Italy, took his test and passed.

’He struggles with written English so struggles with the theory test. When he returned to the island and was stopped he was confused as to why he was being stopped.’