A REPEATEDLY banned motorist has been sent to prison after he was caught driving to work just weeks after being given a three-year disqualification order.

Magistrates jailed 48-year-old Headington man Terry Duignam for four months after learning it was his eighth driving ban.

Chairman David Goodwin said immediate custody was the only option.

Oxford Magistrates’ Court was told Duignam was caught driving on September 2 in Old Road, Headington, when he was stopped by police.

He was disqualified from driving in May after he was convicted of driving with excess alcohol.

Prosecutor Clare Barclay said: “He made full and frank admissions to the offence.”

Tania Scoot, defending, said Duignam suffers from Crohn’s disease and had driven because he had to deal with a work-related problem.

She said: “He hired a mechanic who was taking over his work for him because of this and his health problems.

“He was told a lorry had broken down on a construction yard and the man he had hired had not turned up and the company were losing money while it was there and they would be putting those penalties on to him.

“He asks for one last chance from the court.”

Mr Goodwin said: “You have ignored a recent ban given only in May and you have a series of eight bans over a number of years. You have been given suspended sentences before and it has not affected you.”

Duignam, of Dorchester Close, Headington, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and was jailed for four months.