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Disqualified driver who drove away from court is disqualified again

Tuesday, 6 May 2025 07:38

Disqualified driver Matthew Testa drove away from Harrogate Magistrates Court.

A man who drove home from a Harrogate court that had just banned him from driving has been sentenced again.

Matthew Testa, 51, from Whalley in Lancashire, was disqualified from driving for six months during a hearing at Harrogate Magistrates Court at around 11am on 18th December 2024.

He was warned by the court not to drive from that moment onwards.

However, a North Yorkshire Police prosecutor at court suspected he would get back behind the wheel, and passed details of his immediate disqualification to the force’s Roads Policing Group officers on patrol in the area.

At around 11.35am, officers spotted Testa driving his Porsche car on the A59 at Skipton.

He was stopped, and later charged with driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance or an MOT.

He pleaded guilty, and at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Friday (2nd May), he was given a ten-week custodial sentence and suspended for 12 months.

He was also fined £1,254, and disqualified from driving for 58 weeks.

North Yorkshire Police prosecutor Catherine Coady said:

“Testa knew he had been disqualified from driving – but within minutes he was back behind the wheel.

“He showed a total disregard for the court, and as a direct result of his actions, he now faces a far longer driving ban.”

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