A MAN mistakenly thought his driving ban was one and not two years, heard Skipton Magistrates Court.

Kevin Myers, 40, applied to the DVLA and had got a new licence after the end of what he had wrongly believed had been a 12-month ban, heard Skipton Magistrates Court on Friday.

He was stopped on the afternoon of February 1 while driving a Ford Transit van at Skipton on the road from Cross Bank to Low Skibeden, heading towards Ilkley. A road side test proved positive for cannabis and he was taken to the police station for the evidential test which later showed he had 4.6 microgrammes of Delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis) in a litre of blood. The specified limit is 2.

Myers admitted drugs driving, driving while banned and driving without insurance. He also accepted in court on Friday being in breach of a 16 week prison sentence imposed by Leeds Crown Court in January last year and suspended for 24 months.

Mitigating, Siobhan White, said Myers had been banned from driving for two years in 2022, but he had believed it was for just 12 months, had applied to get his licence back, had received it, got insured and had started driving again.

She said while it did not amount to a defence, it was strong mitigation.

"He is frustrated with the system, but accepts that he should have realised it was a two year ban." In addition, he had had cannabis two days previously, and had not realised it would still be in his system.

For the drugs driving, Myers, of Tyersal Gardens, Bradford, was banned from driving for 36 months and fined £466. He will also have to pay a surcharge of £186 and costs of £85. There was no separate penalty for the driving while banned or without insurance, but his licence will be endorsed.