Banned motorcyclist who badly injured friend found driving Ford Transit in Leeds
A motorcyclist who was banned after smashing into a parked car and badly injuring his friend has avoided jail again after he was caught driving a van.
Jack Campbell and a friend took the off-road bike around the streets of south Leeds in 2022.
They were on the wrong side of the road and not wearing helmets when he smashed into the car, leaving his passenger with a fractured skull and a bleed to the brain.
Campbell was given a two-year suspended sentence and a four-year driving ban. But it failed to deter him after the 22-year-old was caught driving a Ford Transit earlier this year.
Patrolling police saw the van on the morning of January 29, for which records showed it had no registered keeper, prosecutor Ella Embleton told Leeds Crown Court.
Having pulled it over, Campbell admitted he had no licence, but did not mention that he was banned. He said he was driving it for work, but he then tried to run off.
Officers quickly detained him. He was then taken to the police but refused to answer questions during his interview.
Campbell, of Colenso Grove, Holbeck, admitted driving while banned and having no insurance. He was also in breach of his suspended sentence.
Mitigating, Martin Morrow said: “It’s a great shame he is back before the courts. It was very much an aberration. He was between jobs and an opportunity presented for him earn some money.
“He is very sorry for what happened. It has been a salutary lesson for him.”
He said Campbell had two young daughters for which he wanted to provide for.
The judge, Recorder Richard Stubbs acknowledged that Campbell had completed all of the punitive elements of his previous sentence, including unpaid work, rehabilitation days with probation and an alcohol-abstinence requirement.
He opted to give him a 12-month community order with another 100 hours of unpaid work. He told Campbell: “In driving that day you put yourself at risk of custody and your young family of losing their father.
“I’m satisfied it would be unjust to bring the suspended sentence into operation.”