A salesman has been allowed to carry on driving, even though he has 31 penalty points on his licence.
Jeffrey Englander, 60, accumulated the points after committing a series of motoring offences, including speeding and failing to produce his insurance documents.
Magistrates usually disqualify drivers once they reach 12 points, but Mr Englander pleaded “exceptional hardship”. He successfully argued that a driving ban would put his new business at risk.
Mr Englander, of Prestwich, Manchester, said: “I pleaded hardship and had a fantastic magistrate who let me off. I couldn’t believe it.” He added that he had spent a night in jail “and maybe they felt sorry for me”.
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Mr Englander represented himself when he appeared before magistrates at Salford for offences that took his penalty points total to 31. “I said I needed my car for my job,” he said. “They he said they would let me off, but if I got one more point I would be banned.”
A spokesman for the road safety charity Roadpeace said: “I’ve never come across someone with such a number of points on their licence. We are alarmed that the court sees fit to allow this person to continue driving while he appears to have no qualms about flouting driving regulations.”