A ‘FOOLISH’ banned driver is facing a jail term after driving his friend’s car away from an Ilminster petrol station.

Stephen Anthony Taylor was seen by staff at the garage to get into the driver’s seat and pull away, and when they contacted the police amid concerns he was unfit to drive, he was found to be disqualified.

When the defendant was arrested and appeared before Somerset Magistrates, they were told that he had now put himself at serious risk of being put behind bars as he was in breach of two suspended prison sentences.

Taylor, 27, of West Crescent, Ilminster, admitted driving a BMW vehicle on Ditton Street, Ilminster, while disqualified on October 10 last year.

He also admitted using the car without insurance when he was brought before the court at Yeovil in custody after being arrested on a warrant.

Christine Hart, prosecuting, said that on the day in question a green BMW was driven onto the forecourt of the Tesco petrol station in Ilminster and the passenger got out and drew some fuel and it was paid for.

“However the passenger then got into the driver’s seat, after the initial driver moved across, and drove the car away from the scene,” she said.

“The staff at the garage were concerned that the driver may be unfit to drive and the police attended where an officer recognised the man as being Taylor, who was disqualified from driving until March 31, 2018.”

The defendant later attended Yeovil police station for an interview and made no comment to all questions.

The court was also told he was currently subject to two suspended prison sentences, one imposed by magistrates and the other imposed at Taunton Crown Court, and was now in breach of both of them by committing these latest offences.

Defending solicitor Neil Priest said: “Taylor climbed into the driver’s seat and drove a matter of only 200-300 yards when the vehicle reached its destination.

“It was a foolish thing to do but he was not the original driver and it was only a very short distance that he actually drove.”

He said that Taylor had not attended the original court hearing as his life was very chaotic and he was still having counselling for drug problems.

“He was just not in a very good position to deal with dates etc and this was exacerbated as he suffers from ADHD for which he receives Employment Support Allowance along with his drug dependency,” he added.

The magistrates adjourned the case for sentence until May 27 and ordered that Taylor must appear before Taunton Crown Court to be dealt with as it was the only court which had the power to decide whether to implement the crown court suspended sentence.

Until then they remanded Taylor in custody and ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared by the Probation Service.