Why Patrick Brown was still a banned driver - 13 YEARS later

POLICE want to speak to two people in connection with an assault at a Huddersfield pub.

On Saturday evening Joe Burnand was viciously beaten by a thug in the Head of Steam next to Huddersfield Railway Station.

The 53-year-old engineer from Crosland Moor had been enjoying a pint when he was attacked in the corridor of the pub. He was left with facial injuries.

The family believes the attacker may have been part of a group on the Ale Trail.

A spokeswoman for British Transport Police said: “Enquiries are ongoing, a number of witnesses have been spoken to and two names have been put forward and officers will be speaking to them in due course.

“CCTV has been downloaded and is in the process of being viewed.”

Mr Burnand was left with two black eyes, a bruised and swollen face, and cuts to his mouth. Relatives say Mr Burnand may need plastic surgery. A DRIVER arrested after flouting his driving ban said he had no idea he was still disqualified – as the offence happened 13 years ago.

Patrick Brown was banned from driving for two years back in 2004 for motoring offences.

The ban came with a requirement that the 42-year-old took an extended retest before he got behind the wheel again.

But he claimed that he didn’t realise and has continued to drive.

It wasn’t until his arrest in June that police finally realised that he was still a disqualified driver.

And even Brown’s solicitor Jonathan Slawinski described the case as “a bizarre, crazy scenario.”

Brown appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court in custody after missing a previous hearing and pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified and using his vehicle without insurance.

Police stopped his Ford Fiesta as he drove along Thorpe Lane in Skelmanthorpe as they investigated the vehicle for other matters, prosecutor Alex Bozman said.

When he was arrested for driving whilst disqualified, his reply was: “I’m not banned.”

In mitigation Mr Slawinski said that, while his client had over the years appeared in court for other driving offences, his disqualification had not come to light.

He explained: “After digging around his convictions were located and in May 2004, tucked in with his two year ban, was the statement: ‘Until test of competence passed.’

“He’s genuinely thought all this time that he was not a banned driver.

“It’s a bit of a crazy scenario – a bizarre and unusual case.”

Magistrates ordered Brown, of Providential Street in Flockton, to pay £120 fine as well as £85 costs and £30 victim surcharge.

They banned him from driving for a further three months.