Banned motorist caught driving in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, is narrowly spared from jail

Sheffield Crown Court heard on January 4 how Seyedbakir Mousavi, aged 28, was stopped by police on Abbott Street, at Hexthorpe, Doncaster, in a Honda Civic car.

Stephen Littlewood, prosecuting, said banned motorist Mousavi was stopped with two passengers, and police also discovered the vehicle’s MOT certificate had expired.

Mousavi told the court: “I made a mistake and should not have driven. I should have taken other ways to get to Doncaster.”

Mr Littlewood said Mousavi, of Milestone Close, Coventry, explained the vehicle was his wife’s and he had to drive to work or he would have lost his job.

Mousavi pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and without an MOT certificate after the incident on August 4, 2021. He also accepted subsequently breaching a suspended prison sentence and a driving ban which had previously imposed for dangerous driving.

He told the court he had been commuting from Coventry with others to go to work for Amazon but he said the driver had let them down so he decided to drive his wife’s car.

Mousavi added he had got a management position and he needed to commute but he now travels by train or gets lifts from friends.

The defendant said he came from Afghanistan to the UK as an asylum seeker and he provides for his family.

Recorder Kate Batty sentenced Mousavi to a two-year community order with 50 hours of unpaid work, a rehabilitation requirement and a £500 fine. Mousavi is now disqualified from driving for two years and four months.