A BANNED driver has been handed a suspended sentence after repeatedly getting behind the wheel.

Krzysztof Labich admitted drug-driving, driving without insurance, and driving while disqualified when he appeared before magistrates in Hereford.

Police had been on patrol when they pulled Skoda Fabia driver Labich over in a stop-check in Hereford's Belmont Avenue on February 22, prosecutor Mark Hambling said.

Checks revealed he was uninsured and driving while disqualified, while a drug test returned a positive result for cannabis.

An evidential blood test taken in custody revealed he had three microgrammes of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol per litre of blood. The legal limit is two.

In police interview, Labich, who has previous convictions for driving while disqualified, admitted he had been stupid and that he knew he was disqualified and should not have been driving.

OTHER NEWS:

Chris Read, for Labich, said the 26-year-old had been trying to help a friend who was being evicted and needed their belongings removed.

"He and his friend tried to find someone who could help but did not manage to and so he took the poor decision to drive himself," Mr Read said.

The court heard from a probation report that it is the third time Labich has been caught driving while disqualified.

"In other respects he seems quite a normal, hard working person who does not cause trouble to the police, but he simply gets behind the wheel again and again," the report said.

The court heard construction worker Labich uses cannabis to self-medicate for lingering pain after he was involved in a traumatic motorcycle accident when he was a child, which left him in a coma.

Labich, of Meadow Court, Bromyard, was handed a four month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and must carry out 175 hours of unpaid work. He was also disqualified from driving for three years, fined £200, and must pay costs of £135 and a £125 victim surcharge.

Want to stay up to date with all the latest Herefordshire court and crime news? Click here to join our Hereford Times Court and Crime group on Facebook or click here to sign up for our weekly court and crime email newsletter.