A disqualified driver who still had more than a year left of his ban decided to get back behind the wheel.
Vladislav Olechnovich, 47, of Listers Road in Upwell, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, where he admitted driving while disqualified as well as driving without insurance.
On April 5, police stopped a BMW on the A47 in Wisbech after seeing that only a female driver was insured to drive the car. Olechnovich was behind the wheel.
Further checks revealed that Olechnovich was disqualified until August 2025, and he was arrested.
Prosecutor Amir Khan confirmed that on July 14 last year, Olechnovich was disqualified for 40 months after he was found guilty of drink-driving.
In mitigation, George Sorrell explained that Olechnovich had decided to drive to help out a family member.
“He was driving to Wisbech to transfer funds to a bank account in Lithuania to help his elderly mother who is in hospital,” the solicitor said.
“He lives with his girlfriend - she is the insured person on the car and mainly drives it.”
Magistrates ordered Olechnovich to complete a 12-month community order, which entails 100 hours of unpaid work.
An extra six months were added onto his driving disqualification, and he was also ordered to pay court costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £114.