AN EAST Lancashire solicitor ended up being hauled before the court twice when his brother gave his name when stopped by the police.

Burnley Crown Court heard how the victim's brother Ghazanfar Hussain, 36, who should not have been driving, had been given a chance the first time, even though he had been facing jail.

He had received a 12 month community order with unpaid work, but within two months he had been back in the dock for breaching it.

The order had been allowed to continue and just over a month later, he was stopped by police again while driving unlawfully and again gave his brother's details.

The hearing was told his brother, a respected East Lancashire lawyer, had had to go to court again, but that time the defendant had the decency to go with him and explained it had been him all along.

Hussain was later stopped behind the wheel again last December and gave his brother's details a third time.

Hussain, of Beaufort Street, Nelson, had admitted two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice in March and June last year and brea-ching the community order.

He was jailed for 15 months. Recorder Mark Ainsworth told Hussain his brother was a perfectly innocent person and the defendant's actions would have caused him upset, anguish and embarrassment.

The judge said the defendant had repeatedly refused to accept the chances offered to him.

Recorder Ainsworth added that he had read a letter from the defend-ant's brother, which was a testament to him as he had gone to the time and trouble of writing to the court.

The judge told Hussain: “He speaks of the stress and embarrassment you have caused your family and the worries of your elderly father.”

Roger Green, for Hussain, said: “His brother says he has learned his lesson.

“One can only hope that that is the case.”