A 42-YEAR-OLD Blackburn man who asked magistrates to send him to prison got more than he bargained for.

Defence solicitor Stephen Parker told Blackburn magistrates that David John Leaver wished to be sentenced for driving offences without further adjournment for pre-sentence reports and accepted that inevitably meant a custodial sentence.

But after the magistrates imposed a six month prison sentence Mr Parker said he would be appealing against the sentence.

Leaver, of Saint Martins Drive, pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol and while disqualified. He was sentenced to 60 days for the drink driving and 120 for the driving while disqualified and banned from driving for three years.

The court heard Leaver had two previous drink related driving convictions and several for driving while disqualified. An interim disqualification was imposed for the latest drink driving offence in April and the disqualified driving was in breach of that order.

Mr Parker said Leaver had sold his house and was anxious to travel to America, where he has a brother.

"He accepts that a custodial sentence will follow today and he will simply ask you to bear in mind his co-operation and early guilty plea in deciding the length of that sentence," he said.