A BANNED driver was spotted behind the wheel of a car a mere seven minutes after being disqualified from driving, a court was told.

David Stanley, aged 19, was driving away from the court where he had just been banned for six months.

Mr Martin McRobb, prosecuting, said that in August the teenager appeared before Bury magistrates. A police officer was in the court and witnessed Stanley, of Lepp Crescent, Bury, being sentenced.

Mr McRobb said that just minutes later the officer and a colleague were travelling along nearby Jubilee Way and saw Stanley at the wheel of a Ford Escort. Stanley who pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified was given a 60-hour community punishment order for what was described as a "flagrant breach of a court order". He was also sentenced to a 12-month community rehabilitation order, to attend a Think First programme and received a 12-month driving ban.