Disqualified Sunderland motorist drove three days before his ban ran out
A banned Sunderland driver’s struggles with numbers and lack of a calendar led him to drive three days before his 18-month road ban ended, a court heard.
Reece Nelson’s solicitor described him as a “scaffolder, not a mathematician” – but also conceded he had been boozing when he got behind the wheel.
Nelson, 35, was arrested after police found him in the driver’s seat of a white van in Grindon Lane, on the evening of August 14.
It came after reports of a vehicle being driven in the area on only three good tyres, prosecutor Paul Anderson said.
Nelson, of Durham Road, denied driving but then refused to be breathalysed after officers felt the bonnet and found it hot to the touch.
He pleaded guilty to a string of motoring offences and could be jailed after magistrates adjourned his case for an all-options report.
Mr Anderson said: “The police got a report of a van being driven around the Grindon Lane area on its wheel rims.
“Officers attended the general area and saw marks on the road, indicating that something had been going along.
“They found the vehicle parked up and the defendant sitting in the driver’s seat. There were three tyres on and one where the rim was showing.
“He said that he was only waiting for a taxi. Officers touched the bonnet which was hot.
“CCTV also showed him coming out of a house and getting into the van and driving off.
“He failed to provide a specimen and was arrested. The driving disqualification was only three days away from not being a disqualification.”
Nelson admitted driving while banned, driving without due care and attention, failing to provide a specimen and driving without insurance.
He has convictions for drink driving in 2012 and 2025 and for driving while disqualified in 2013 and 2021, it was said.
Chris Wilson, defending, said: “He doesn’t offer frivolous excuses about why he had been driving.
“He’s a man who struggles with English and maths and he miscalculated when his disqualification was up.
“It’s unfortunate for him that he didn’t have a calendar to see how many days or weeks he had. He says that he’s a scaffolder, not a mathematician.”
Magistrates handed Nelson an interim driving ban and granted him unconditional bail until September 18.