A hotel boss has been given a suspended prison sentence for driving to pick up his son from school while banned.

Garikayi Garande, who runs three hotels in Great Yarmouth, had been stopped by police driving a company car on the town's St Nicholas Road on December 16 last year.

He was serving a driving ban at the time.

Garande had resorted to using a company car to pick up his son from school after getting a call that he may have had Covid.

He had tried calling a cab but failed to book one.

Garande, 43, of Paget Road in Great Yarmouth, pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and driving without a licence when he appeared in the dock at Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court.

The court heard he had been banned for drink-driving in 2019 and it was his second breach of that court order.

After he pleaded guilty, magistrates warned Garande he faced a jail sentence for his latest breach and ordered a report into him to see how it would impact on his life and job.

Presenting her report Sue Craske, Norfolk Probation Service Officer, said Garande had run a hotel and holiday flat company with his brother for the last three years.

Garande operated three hotels and 20 holidays lets in the Great Yarmouth area, while his brother focussed on the rest of the county.

He employed 15 people in the town and feared for their futures if he was jailed as the company would probably cease to operate.

Mrs Craske said: "He fears they will all be made redundant."

Garande also had eight children and was financially responsible for six of them and was also worried about being able to support his mother in Zambia if he went to jail.

Mrs Craske said: "He fears an immediate custodial sentence with a great deal of trepidation."

Garande was also extremely remorseful for what he had done.

Chairman of the bench William Garnett told Garande he had an "appalling driving record", but that he was a man with a lot of responsibilities.

Garande was give a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year.

He was also banned from driving for 19 months and ordered to pay £105 court costs and a £128 victim surcharge.