(Image: ANDY FUTERS)
A Darlington dad who showed a “blatant disregard” for court orders by driving whilst disqualified and without insurance has been banned from the roads.
Daniel Rochester was behind the wheel of a Ford Transit van on Staindrop Road when police pulled him over just before 11am on April 15.
Officers discovered that the van had no MOT - and that the 33-year-old had no third party insurance and was also disqualified from driving.
Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday (August 13) that Rochester had just set up a business with his friend but, after the MOT failed, his partner dropped out.
Rochester, now a landscape gardener, then decided to "foolishly" get behind the wheel.
Syed Ali, prosecuting, said: “The vehicle was asked to be stopped and when the defendant stopped and further checks were made the vehicle had no insurance or MOT.
“The defendant was approached and the driver accepted that he was disqualified.”
Rochester, of Fenby Avenue in Darlington, told the officers that he was driving on behalf of the owner of the van but that he was not the registered keeper of it.
The court heard that Rochester has four previous convictions for six offences, the last of which was in February 2025 for a similar matter.
Stacey Christon, mitigating, said Rochester, who pleaded guilty to the offences, had set up a business with his friend and that they would be the person driving the van.
“But when the van failed its MOT, it was apparent there would be substantial cost to repair it, [and] the friend dropped out of the arrangement,” she said.
“Foolishly, he made the decision to drive it.”
Ms Christon said the incident had caused him a “considerable amount of stress” for him and his wife, who works part-time at a local doctors surgery, and their two children aged six and 11.
She said that Rochester had never been in custody before and that this “would have a catastrophic effect on him and his family”.
Mrs Julie Pikesley, chairwoman of the magistrates' bench, said it was a “very deliberate and blatant disregard for a court order”.
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“You knew what you were doing and you chose to do it anyway, Mrs Pikesley said.
She warned that a custodial sentence would be the next step, should he break the court order.
He was handed an eight week sentence, suspended for 12 months, and told to do 200 hours of unpaid work. He was disqualified from driving for three years and fined £239.