A joiner has won back his driving licence eight months early after a drink-driving ban.

John Charles McClafferty, aged 47, of Church Road, Port Erin, has served five years and four months of a six-year ban.

Magistrates ruled his ban should end early - but he will still need to retake his test before driving again.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain said McClafferty was disqualified in July 2014 after being more than twice the legal drink-drive limit.

McClafferty said his client had attended a drink-drive rehabilitation course which had ’opened his eyes’.

The court heard McClafferty’s wife, who was the sole driver in the family, had died. And he had been unable to work for three months after being knocked off his bicycle.

McClafferty can now apply for a provisional licence.