Rogue driver caught behind the wheel in Hartlepool twice in two days despite being banned the previous month

Jonathan Rumis, 24, was jailed for 20 weeks after he pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified two days in a row.

Rumis was banned from driving for 12 months in September last year, but just days later was back behind the wheel on two separate occasions.

District Judge Helen Cousins, said Rumis had taken no notice of the original court order in getting behind the wheel.

The court heard that Rumis had been seen by police behind the wheel of his VW Scirocco on October 11 on the A19/A179 in Hartlepool.

The following day he was driving on the A689 in Hartlepool.

Rumis originally denied the offence of driving whilst disqualified on October 11, as well as without insurance, but changed his plea to guilty on the day of the trial. He admitted driving whilst disqualified on October 12 and driving without insurance.

A spokesman for the probation service said at the time of the offences Rumis said he had been told that his grandmother was unwell.

He said: “His mother called him and asked him to go and visit her.”

Instead of waiting for a lift, he decided to drive.

The officer said: “He did this on the spur of the moment and jumped in the car and went over to attend to his grandmother.

“He did say it was the wrong thing to do, he knew he was a banned driver and should not have got into that vehicle.”

He said Rumis has close family support and has hopes of going to college and setting up his own business.

Paul Green, defending, said: “There is nothing to suggest that he will return to offending.”

In sentencing Judge Cousins said: “You have taken absolutely no notice whatsoever of the courts.”

She added that time and resources had been wasted in preparing for a trial, for him to plead guilty at the last minute.

Rumis, of Braemar Road, Billingham, was jailed for a total of 20 weeks and banned from driving for a further 12 months.