A POWYS man caught driving while disqualified has escaped a prison sentence but been ordered to pay a fine of more than £1,500.

Christopher Hughes, from Llandrindod Wells, was subject to a suspended jail sentence at the time he committed the offence, on August 18 this year.

Hughes, 52, was stopped by police driving a Vauxhall Meriva in Brecon on the day in question. He had previously been banned from driving and handed a suspended period of imprisonment in 2022.

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Hughes, of Temple Street, Llandrindod, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified, as well as driving without insurance, when he previously appeared at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court on September 15.

Magistrates had sent Hughes’ case to Merthyr Crown Court due to the seriousness of the offence and because it was committed under a suspended sentence order.

Hughes was driving the vehicle on Heol Gousenou, Brecon, when he was stopped.  

At his sentencing on Tuesday (October 24) Hughes was given an additional 13-month driving ban, though this is to run concurrently to his existing disqualification.

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He will also carry out a 12-month community order, which includes completing 100 hours of unpaid work.

He was fined £1,000, a sum imposed to mark the breach of the suspended sentence order from last August. He must also pay £420 costs and a £114 surcharge.

There will be no separate penalty for no insurance.