DOUBTS have been raised over the future of a coach company after its owner was jailed for driving while disqualified.

David Bennett, the boss of Woolston-based Tansey’s Coaches, has been jailed for six months after he was caught driving while banned from the road for the second time this year.

The 42-year-old was driving his Mitsubishi L200 on Forshaw Street in Orford on November 22 when he was pulled over police.

He had earlier been banned from driving for a period of two years for accruing more than 12 points on his licence.

Bennett, of Fitzherbert Street, Orford, had previously been convicted of driving while disqualified in January and was handed a four-month custodial sentence which was suspended for a period of two years.

On Wednesday, December 14, that suspended sentence was activated in full after Bennett admitted driving while disqualified and driving without insurance at Halton Magistrates Court.

The court heard that Bennett has suffered from mental health issues in the past 18 months and had attempted to take his own life, while one of his two grandchildren was undergoing a heart operation on the day of his court appearance.

But he was handed an additional two month imprisonment, meaning that he will spend the next six months behind bars.

Bennett cried in the dock as he was sentenced and waved to his partner in the public gallery while he was taken down to the cells.

The court heard that Bennett has been employed by various coaching companies since the age of 17 and is currently the owner of Tansey’s.

His defence barrister stated in court that the coach company would ‘fold’ if Bennett was jailed, leading to the 18 people who work for the firm becoming unemployed.

However, the company says that it has since reviewed the situation and that it will continue to operate.

A spokesman for Tansey’s Coaches said: “Under the circumstances we have reviewed the situation and made managerial changes that ensure the continued high level of service to our customers and Tansey’s Coaches will continue for many years to come.”

In addition to his jail term, Bennett was also banned from driving for a further two years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £115.