Downham Market provisional driver Alan Wilby took mother’s car without her permission to get to the gym

A 22-year-old without a driving licence tried to take his mother’s car to the gym without her permission.

Alan Wilby, of Retreat Estate in Downham, appeared at Lynn Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he admitted three offences.

Wilby pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent and driving it without a licence or insurance.

Prosecutor Abdul Khan told the court that on November 9 last year, police were on patrol in Downham when they saw Wilby driving across a mini roundabout close to the train station without looking for any oncoming traffic.

They pulled him over at the train station car park and discovered Wilby only had a provisional licence.

His mother arrived at the scene, where she told police she did not give her son permission to drive the car.

In mitigation, duty solicitor Tiffany Meredith told the court that Wilby took the car to go to a gym in Wisbech.

She added that going to the gym benefits his mental health.

“The gym makes him feel happy and positive, that’s why he was desperate to go. A lack of maturity played a part in this,” said Ms Meredith.

“His mum told me he had previously struggled with drugs, he has defeated all of these demons and doesn’t want anything to do with that now.”

Ms Meredith said that Wilby is remorseful for his actions and aspires to potentially join the army one day.

A total of six points were added to his licence and he was fined £120. He will also pay a victim surcharge of £48 and court costs of £45.