A 52-year-old man who drove while he was disqualified and without insurance has been fined £1,100.

Neal Antony Clague’s driving ban had ended in September 2020, but he had failed to take an extended test as ordered by the court.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also banned him from driving for a further six months.

Prosecuting advocate Barry Swain told the court that police were parked at Ronaldsway Airport on October 27 last year, when they saw Clague arrive driving a Nissan Qashqai.

He met some people and they all got back into the car with Clague driving off.

He was displaying no ‘L’ plates and police followed him, subsequently stopping him in Castletown.

Checks confirmed that he had not retaken his test after the ban and when officers spoke to Clague he admitted that he held only a provisional licence and had no valid insurance.

He opted to represent himself in court and said that he had not fully appreciated that he was still banned, and had initially thought that the offence had been not displaying ‘L’ plates and only holding a provisional licence.

Clague said that he was due to take his test on February 13 and had just not got around to it yet.

He said that he had driven because a friend was ill and he was running a comedy club event in Castletown.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes also said that Clague had two warrants in relation to unpaid previous fines of £395 and £425.

Clague, who lives at Castlemona Avenue in Douglas, said that he had paid the £395 that day, before his court appearance.

He was given seven days to pay the £425 or the warrant will be reactivated.

The High Bailiff fined him £800 for driving while disqualified and £300 for having no insurance.

She ordered Clague to pay the latest fines at a rate of £50 per week and also pay £50 prosecution costs.