A driver with a revoked licence got behind the wheel to pick up goat’s milk for puppy porridge has been fined and given penalty points.
Dog breeder David Francis Huber, 62, appeared at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court today. Huber was sentenced after he admitted a charge of driving a vehicle after his licence was revoked in February this year.
It was around 11.10am on May 2 when a police officer saw Huber driving a blue Toyota Hi-Lux on the A66 near the Eden Valley village of Warcop.
A check showed Huber’s full licence had been revoked on medical grounds.
Huber, who was not represented by a solicitor, told magistrates he had previously made what he thought had been a confidential disclosure about sharing a marijuana joint last December.
He understood a report was then made to police “which, I might add, was a great surprise to me”, he told the court. “I hadn’t been driving while under the influence or anything like that.”
He spoke of receiving correspondence through the post from the DVLA regarding reinstatement of his licence two weeks before the offence. His response was the posted, recorded delivery, on the same May morning that he came to attention of police.
“The reason I drove is that I had young puppies,” said Huber, who described being in the process of breeding and training pups. “I live in the middle of nowhere. There are no taxis, no buses, no trains — absolutely no public transport.
“I was going to pick up goat’s milk to make puppy porridge. I thought my licence was perhaps in the post. I took a chance. It backfired. That’s it.”
Huber, of Banks Gate Farm, North Stainmore, was fined £120 and given three driving licence penalty points.
Record checks showed Huber’s licence remained revoked on medical grounds. He was told by a court legal advisor he could lodge an appeal against the DVLA’s revocation.
- In January last year, Huber was given a community order at Carlisle Crown Court after throwing shotgun cartridges through the gates of Buckingham Palace. That offence, committed ahead of the King’s Coronation in early May 2023, sparked a major security scare and prompted police to carry out a controlled explosion.
