A 21-year-old disqualified driver claimed he was taking his child to hospital because he and his partner were concerned about his health.
And Blackburn magistrates heard that while Daniel Paul Reid was arrested his son and his partner completed the journey to Royal Blackburn Hospital in the back of a police car.
Reid, of Rothwell Avenue, Accrington, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance.
He was made subject to community supervision for 12 months, ordered to do 40 hours unpaid work, banned from driving for six months and ordered to pay £70 costs.
Jonathan Taylor, defending, said the child had been unwell in the morning and Reid had been reluctant to go to work.
Mr Taylor said: "The child seemed listless and my client simply panicked. There were other ways he could have got them to hospital but at the time he just jumped in his partner's car without thinking things through."
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