Driver jailed for getting behind the wheel 19 days after being disqualified

Just 19 days after having his licence taken off him in court, dangerous driver Dean Bell was back on the road.

Now, after being caught, he's back behind bars.

The 33-year-old has been locked up for 26 weeks after he flouted the law by driving while disqualified.

When caught, he tried claiming he was only testing the car for faulty brakes.

Brazen Bell had been banned from the roads and was handed a community order by a judge in January.

During the hearing, a court was also told how Bell had previously been jailed for dangerous driving in 2015.

A court heard how he was arrested by police on January 30 after they saw him driving his partner's Vauxhall Insignia in Wallsend.

He had a young child as a passenger so police did not engage the vehicle in a pursuit and instead arrested him later that day.

At court Bell, of The Crescent, Barlow, Gateshead, claimed that he was just testing the brakes because he had suspicions they were faulty.