A DRIVER who was caught in a car while disqualified said he was ‘fixing it’ for his friend to ‘make her happy’.

Mateusz Kowzan, 39, was caught on November 11 last year driving a black Volkswagen Golf in Brock Lane, West Hagbourne while disqualified and without third-party insurance.

At Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday (March 15), it was heard that Kowzan had previously been disqualified for drink-driving.

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However, when caught driving during the ban, he said that his hobby is mechanics and he was fixing the car for a friend.

He said: “I just tried to make my best friend who had helped me. She took me to the courts, she took me everywhere.

“So I tried to make her happy. I tried to fix the Golf as my hobby is a mechanic. I wasn’t abusing alcohol, I was just pulled over.

“I told the police officers, ‘I know what I’ve done’.”

The court heard he has eight convictions for 11 previous offences, including drink driving in 2014 and a public order offence in 2022.

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In January this year, he had just finished a community order.

Kowzan, of Broadway, Didcot, was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment and was disqualified for a further 38 months.

There was also a £154 victim surcharge but no other order for costs due to immediate custody.