Banned driver jailed after journey to McDonald's

Shkelzen Lashi was caught out by CCTV footage captured by McDonald's in Bushey

A banned driver was jailed for nine-and-a-half months after going out for a McDonald's.

Shkelzen Lashi - who has never passed a test - was initially disqualified in February for driving dangerously in Watford town centre.

Prosecutor Damian Warburton said just two months later, the 25-year-old “stuck his fingers up to the court” by getting back behind the wheel in Hertfordshire.

Lashi, of Magpie Close, Enfield, was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court having pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and being uninsured.

Lashi was found by police next to a crashed car in St Albans but he told officers it had been taken by two men who had run off.

Detectives were able to prove he had been driving by obtaining CCTV evidence from McDonald's in Bushey which showed he had been behind the wheel there 30 to 40 minutes earlier.

Shkelzen Lashi was jailed during sentencing at St Albans Crown Court

The court heard how, in February, Lashi had driven a blue Audi dangerously in Watford with no licence or insurance.

He was given a 10-month sentence, suspended for two years, and was banned from holding a licence for 18 months and until he passed an extended test.

Joe Davidson, mitigating, said Lashi’s girlfriend had gone back to Poland to visit a sick relative at the time.

He had “made a stupid mistake and immediately pleaded guilty.”

Jailing him on Friday, recorder Anthony Cartin said: “In February the court gave you the benefit of the doubt by giving you a suspended sentence.

“Just two months later you were found next to a crashed vehicle. You denied driving it and said thieves stole it."

Mr Cartin said "there was clear evidence" he had driven to McDonald's.