A serial offender who drove twice while he was still disqualified has been fined £800 and banned for a further 12 months.

Christopher Kevin McCluskey was also uninsured on both occasions and was fined a further £250 for those offences, as well has having his licence endorsed with five points.

Prosecuting advocate Hazel Carroon told the court that the 40-year-old was disqualified in December 2004 for five years, but had not taken an extended driving test at the end of his ban, as required.

On September 15, he was seen by police driving a Citroen Berlingo van on Strang Road, unsupervised.

Then, on November 8, police stopped him after acting on information received, while he was driving the same van at Braddan Bridge, again unsupervised.

Checks confirmed that he held only a provisional licence, which had expired in June 2022.

Defence advocate Paul Rodgers said that his client did have insurance for the vehicle but it was invalidated due to his lack of licence.

Mr Rodgers said that McCluskey had spent a considerable amount of his life in prison, with his last sentence being one of 15 years, which he was said to have been released early from in 2021.

‘Lots of people fall back into reoffending but Mr McCluskey has done well,’ said Mr Rodgers.

‘In order to persuade the parole board to release him, he had to present plans.

‘He has set up his own plastering business.’

The advocate went on to say that McCluskey had a driver working for his business, but on the dates in question, he had been unavailable, so McCluskey had made the mistake of driving himself.

Mr Rodgers went on to ask for credit to be given for his client’s guilty plea and asked the court to impose a sentence which would allow him to continue his good work.

McCluskey’s probation officer said that he had been engaging with probation and complying with all his appointments.

The probation officer said that they were happy for him to continue on licence.

Magistrates fined McCluskey, who lives at Anagh Coar Road in Douglas, £800 for the September driving offence and £250 for the insurance offence, with no separate penalties made for the November offences.

He will pay the fine, as well as prosecution costs of £125, at a rate of £100 per month, and will still have to take an extended test at the end of the new 12-month ban.