A DISQUALIFIED driver got behind the wheel after receiving a call from the hospice about his terminally ill mother.

Blackburn magistrates heard Nico Carter was stopped by police and discovered to be disqualified.

When he was released he went straight to the hospice and arrived one and a half hours before his mother passed away.

Carter, 59, of Curlew Close, Oswaldtwistle, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and without insurance. He was made subject to a community order for six months with five days Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, fined £40 and ordered to pay £114 victim surcharge and £85 costs.

Aftab Bakhat, defending, said his client's mother was terminally ill and in a hospice.

"He received a call to say she was experiencing difficulties and they did not expect her to survive that day," said Mr Bakhat. "He was asked to make his way there as quickly as he could."

Mr Bakhat said his client had changed nis name by Deed Poll about four weeks before he was stopped.

"He didn't want to be arrested because of the urgency of the situation but he gave police all the details of his name change which enabled them to establish that he was a disqualified driver," said Mr Bakhat. "Despite his arrest he managed to het to the hospice and hour and a half before his mother passed away."