Man caught driving while banned may escape punishment due to alleged postal mix-up

Sala Uddin, 54, was stopped at the wheel of a Vauxhall Zafira in Burlison Gardens, Felling, Gateshead, on Monday, November 14.

Police checks showed Uddin, of Longleat Gardens, South Shields town centre, had been disqualified under the totting up process at a court hearing he had not attended.

But at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, where he pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, he claimed he was oblivious to the ban.

Paul Kennedy, defending, said correspondence relaying the information to Uddin had been sent to an alleged incorrect address.

Mr Kennedy admitted ignorance of a ban was no excuse in law, but that he would seek to persuade magistrates it was valid mitigation in Uddin’s case.

He asked them to adjourn the hearing so he could put forward a special reasons defence on his client’s behalf at a later date.

They agreed – and Uddin will return to the same court on Monday, June 26, to have his case re-examined.

Mr Kennedy said: “I’m going to ask the court to adjourn the case for a special reason, that being that he was unaware of the disqualification.

“The address seems to be room 111 at 2 Beach Road in South Shields. This gentleman was only living there for a number of days.

“I think there needs to be some investigation as to how the court knew he was at the address because he was not registered there.”

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