Disqualified driver who killed Middlesbrough boy narrowly avoids prison (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Disqualified driver who killed a young boy narrowly avoids prison

4:32pm Wednesday 7th November 2012 in News By Graeme Hetherington

A BANNED driver who killed a young boy when he was a teenager has been back before the courts for driving while disqualified.

Ashley Lindo narrowly missed being given a custodial sentence after he was told he had an unenviable track record for driving offences.

Instead the 22-year-old, of Orwell Street, Middlesbrough, was given a community order and ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work after he pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at Teesside Magistrates Court today.

In 2006, Lindo, then only 16, was sentenced to three years in a youth offenders' institute when he pleaded guilty to causing the death of Daniel Conroy Curtin by dangerous driving while in a stolen car.

After serving 18-months of his sentence he was released much to the dismay of the eight-year-old’s mother Clare Conroy.

Clare Conroy holding a photograph of her son Daniel Conroy Curtin, who was killed by Ashley Lindo, in May 2006

Today, the court heard how a police community support officer had spotted Lindo riding a Yamaha motorbike on Crescent Road, Middlesbrough, in September this year.

Tahira Bouchier, prosecuting, told the court how Lindo was sentenced to 23 months custody and given a five-year driving ban, after admitting dangerous driving, driving while disqualified and aggravated vehicle in 2009.

In mitigation, Gary Wood said his client had been out of driving trouble since his release apart from an unrelated charge.

He said: “His last driving offence dates back to February 2009, and what we are dealing with here is a case where a substantial amount of the ban has been served.”

District Judge Andrew Meachin told Lindo said he did not want to impose a custodial sentence and ordered him to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and gave him a 12-month community order. He was also ordered to pay £350 towards court costs.

The judge said: “You have an unenviable record for motoring offences.

"It is extremely long, but I’m pleased to say in the past three years you have turned yourself around and you seem to be sorting your life out. I don’t want to change that with a custodial sentence.”

His ban was not extended, but his licence will be endorsed with six penalty points when it is returned.