A DISQUALIFIED driver was caught giving a motorbike he had been working on a test run near his home.

Steven Markey had been given two driving bans that wouldn't see him behind the wheel until 2024.

But, he chose to give a motorbike a test run in Renton halfway through the disqualification period on March 26, 2023. 

The 25-year-old previously pleaded guilty at Dumbarton Sheriff Court to the road traffic offence.

Markey, of Main Street, also admitted to driving the motorbike without valid insurance.

When he appeared in the dock this week for sentencing, his defence solicitor Stephen Maguire said: "The account that Mr Markey gives is that a police patrol happened to be in the location at the time.

"He was giving a quick test run on a bike he had been working on. I don't think he was fully rationalising the seriousness of the offence at the time. 

"He knows that it is a very poor choice and the consequences of that have hit home. He accepts full responsibility and the serious nature of the offence committed."

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry said: "You have a short but very relevant schedule of previous convictions.

"In 2021, you were disqualified for 12 months and one month later you were disqualified for three years for a 2020 offence. And you chose to drive while disqualified.

"The consequence of that quite simply is that I send you to prison, but it is with some hesitation that I don't. I am confident if you drive again whilst disqualified you will go to prison."

The sheriff disqualified him for two years.

Markey was also placed on a community payback order under social work supervision for 18 months and ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work.