A BANNED driver spotted pulling up outside a wallpaper shop has been given a pasting by Bradford Crown Court.

Stephen Holdroyd lost his licence in September last year after he was convicted of dangerous driving and driving without insurance following a high speed police chase.

When he got behind the wheel on September 21 this year, he was breaching a nine month suspended prison sentence, the court heard.

Holdroyd, 34, of Buxton Street, Manningham, Bradford, was seen by the police driving on Oak Lane and St Mary’s Road.

When challenged outside the wallpaper shop, he denied that he had been driving.

Officers searched the shop for the car keys but couldn’t find them.

Holdroyd then admitted he had them on him and confessed to driving while disqualified.

He said he was working on the vehicle for a friend and intended to simply start the engine but then decided he needed the wallpaper and drove the short distance to buy it.

In mitigation, the court heard that Holdroyd cared for his father who was in poor health.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, said the suspended sentence Holdroyd had been given for dangerous driving around the Otley area at night had been “very, very generous.”

He had breached the order and a prison sentence must follow.

Judge Durham Hall activated the suspended sentence in full and added four months to run consecutively, making a total of 13 months.

Holdroyd was banned from driving for two years and six and a half months.