A disqualified driver who got behind the wheel of a car was caught just seconds later as he attempted to drive to visit an epileptic relative who had had a fit.

Bradford Crown Court heard that Shakeel Khan had been banned from driving four times in 2020 and 2021 – including three times between April and December 2021. 

On the most recent occasion, he had been handed a two-and-a-half-year disqualification.

Last summer, he received a 21-month suspended prison sentence for intent to supply controlled drugs.

Prosecutor Lydia Carroll said Khan, 29, of Manchester Road, Bradford, was stopped in Boy Lane, Halifax, shortly after 1am on April 12 this year by police and immediately admitted that he was disqualified.

He later pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified, driving with no insurance, and breaching a suspended sentence order.

Mitigating, Fuad Arshad said Khan, who appeared via video link from HMP Lincoln, was recalled to prison on June 19 just two days before he was due to get married.

He said Khan borrowed his wife-to-be’s neighbour’s car to drive from Halifax to Bradford in response to news that his mother had had a fit.

He added: “He is stopped by the police literally 30 seconds later. [It was] wrong for sure, he knows that.”

Mr Recorder Paul Reid handed Khan one month in prison plus 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days, banned him from driving for six months, and ordered his licence to be endorsed.