A father of six from Onchan has been fined £550 by magistrates and had his licence endorsed with six penalty points.

William Robin Griffiths, of Nursery Avenue, admitted three offences of speeding, having a defective tyre, and no vehicle licence.

Prosecutor Barry Swain told the court how, on July 9 at 2.55am, police were on Queen’s promenade in an unmarked vehicle heading towards Port Jack when they saw Griffiths driving a Toyota Previa coming down Summer Hill.

The 37-year-old was said to be driving at 60mph in a 30mph zone as police followed him.

He was stopped and one of the Previa’s tyres was said to be devoid of tread. His driving licence had also expired on May 31.

Defending Griffiths in court, advocate David Reynolds asked for credit to be given for his client’s guilty pleas and said that the backdated tax had since be paid.

Mr Reynolds said: ’Mr Griffiths tells me he had just started a new job after being unemployed for eight months. He was driving from Ramsey to his company’s office when his vehicle broke down, so he picked up his own vehicle from home as he wanted to get back to work to sign off from his shift.

’We would ask the court to consider the time of morning, though he was over the speed limit, there was no-one around.

’He has six children to support and is the only person in the family with a driving licence. He has received three penalty points in the last few months and tells me it is imperative he has his vehicle licence to do his job. He also needs it to take his youngest children to nursery. Having six children the vehicle is very helpful.’

Griffiths was fined £300 for speeding, £150 for the defective tyre and £100 for having no vehicle licence.