Michael Proctor, 28, of Crawley Street, was charged with multiple counts of driving while disqualified, handling stolen goods (registration plates), dangerous driving and evading police.

Police said that a number plate was stolen from a Toyota sedan on June 9 and then found on a gold Mazda Proctor had bought from a wrecker eight days later.

On June 21 witnesses told police Proctor had been driving the gold Mazda while living in a caravan at the rear of a Crawley Street property.

He did not have a licence.

At 5.25pm the same day police saw Proctor driving the gold Mazda in Moore Street at a slow speed.

The car did not have number plates fitted and it was wandering across the road while Proctor tried to fix it.

It wandered into the path of oncoming traffic, forcing a vehicle to take evasive action.

Police stopped following Proctor because of the manner of his driving but the car stopped about 150 metres away.

Proctor was able to restart it and then sped dangerously through a 40km/h road work zone.

He was arrested later that night.

Lawyer Morgan Adams said his client had an appalling driving record, littered with driving while disqualified and driving unlicensed charges.

Some of those offences had led to jail sentences of longer than four months.

Mr Morgan said Proctor had an inability to learn from his mistakes and his offending lacked sophistication.

"He's not a person who makes good decisions," he said.

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Magistrate Mark Stratmann said he was concerned that Proctor was just going to spend the next 10 or 15 years going in and out of jail.

Proctor was jailed for the time already served and banned from driving for another 12 months.

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