BANNED DRIVER WITH 59 POINTS JOKES WITH POLICE AFTER BEING STOPPED

Iain Ashmore, aged 45, was pulled over by Lincolnshire police whilst driving a white Ford Transit Connect on 23 July despite being disqualified from driving. Police bodycam footage captured the exchange between Ashmore and officers, who discovered during a records check that he had accumulated 59 penalty points on his licence. Before officers checked his details, Ashmore complained of being "fed up of being pulled over" and claimed police had stopped him three times in one month, threatening to lodge a formal complaint about what he described as unfair targeting.

When PC Mark Solder informed Ashmore of his 59 points, Ashmore initially responded by asking if the figure had decreased, then quipped that he thought it had been 61. Under the UK's "totting up" system, drivers who accumulate 12 penalty points within a three-year period are normally disqualified from the road for at least six months. When asked how he had managed to retain his licence with such a high points total, Ashmore replied that it was "because I'm a very good person". Ashmore acknowledged that his insurance costs were "astronomical" but described them as "just a pretty penny", claiming they remained cheaper than insurance for lorry drivers.

Lincoln Magistrates' Court heard that Ashmore, of Witham St Hughes, Lincolnshire, drove whilst disqualified on three separate dates: 30 May, 23 June and 23 July in 2026. The court proceedings confirmed the three instances of driving whilst banned that formed the basis of the prosecution against him.