A motorist was lucky to keep his licence after an admin error resulted in him having more points on it than he should have done.

Alam Majid, from Medway, was clocked speeding in a 30mph zone in August 2022 and was prosecuted over the matter in his absence.

At the time he was fined and six points were endorsed on his licence.

However, when the 25-year-old was pulled over by police in his VW Golf in Courteney Road, Gillingham, in December the same year he was found to have no insurance for the vehicle.

Majid, of Maidstone Road, Rainham, was charged with driving without insurance and admitted the offence when appeared in court in June.

However, at the time, it was pointed out to him that because he had now admitted the second offence, he may be banned from driving under the totting-up rule.

A totting-up ban is a disqualification which is given to a motorist as a result of accumulating 12 or more penalty points on a licence within three years.

The court will arrange a hearing where magistrates will decide, based on the severity of the offences, the length of the ban. Any totting-up ban given will last for a minimum of six months.

As a result of being told he could be banned, the driving without insurance case against him was adjourned until this month.

This was so he could contact the original court that dealt with his speeding fine in his absence to see if magistrates would re-open and reconsider their decision to endorse his licence with six points as he had not been at the hearing to provide any mitigation.

However, when Majid did enquire with the original court, he received an email from court officials to say his licence should never have been endorsed with six points and in fact it was an admin error and he should only ever have had three points on his licence.

He re-appeared in the dock at Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on November 9 when magistrates heard all about the sequence of events and the admin error.

Neil Sweeney prosecutor said: “On August 8, 2022 he was caught speeding and was convicted of the offence in March that year, he got a fine and three points on his licence, not six.

“He is not a totter now and on the day in question in December last year, his Golf drove past an unmarked police car officers did checks and there was no insurance on the vehicle.

“He told officers he believed he was insured but checks revealed the insurance policy had been cancelled on November 12, a month previously.

“He said he had no information from the insurance company, but it’s a strict liability offence.”

Defending himself, Majid, who is unemployed and on Universal Credit, told the magistrates he had not realised his insurance had been cancelled, but admitted it was his fault as he should have realised when his monthly instalment direct debit was not taken from his account.

The bench told him to make sure in future that he had his direct debit and insurance matters in order before fining him £120 for the offence and endorsing his licence with six points.

They also ordered he pay a victim surcharge of £48 as well as £85 court costs and told him to drive very carefully from now on as he now had nine points on his licence.