AN AMATEUR boxer with a long history of offending has taken up boxing again so he can raise money for disabled children through charity bouts, magistrates heard.

Dean Mayo had made a bid to turn his life around, the court was told.

He was trying to settle down, get qualifications and build a future for himself and his family.

The 31-year-old, of Beagle Close, Priory Vale, admitted charges of driving while disqualified, drinking driving and having no insurance.

Prosecutor Paula Mulherne said Mayo, who had previous convictions for dangerous driving and was banned from driving for five years in 2000, was stopped on June 10 this year by a police officer who was concerned about his driving.

He gave his details to police but then jumped out the car and started to run away.

The officer chased him and the defendant eventually slowed and started to walk towards the officer to hand himself in, she said.

He was arrested and a blood test at the police station later showed he was over the legal alcohol limit.

His solicitor Rob Ross said that the officer was surprised when Mayo stopped running and allowed himself to be arrested.

"The Dean Mayo of a few years ago would not have reacted that way," he said. He said that the defendant had rescued his marriage, got himself a career as a foreman for a ground working company and bought a home.

Mayo, who has two disabled children, had taken up boxing again, he said, and wanted to use his skills in charity bouts to raise cash for disabled children's charities.

"He has got two disabled children himself and at last he has woken up to this," said Mr Ross.

"He has woken up to the fact that he has to give something back. I think there are some very big signs of real change in this man at last."

He said that of all Mayo's previous motoring convictions, the latest was probably the least serious.

He had been watching an England game on TV and had a couple of pints before he moved the car 500 yards, at which point he was approached by the police.

The bench ordered him to do 100 hours community punishment, to run after another 100 hours imposed by a judge for a separate matter. He was also disqualified for three years and told he would have to pass an extended test before he could drive again.

Tina Clarke