TWO prolific driving offenders have avoided jail after continuing to flout the law and putting lives at risk.

Jordan Keeble, 22, and Owen Hughes, 24, are the latest motorists to be identified by Operation Dragoon as high-risk drivers by Dorset Police's No Excuse team.

Keeble, of Cammel Road in West Parley, has been dealt with in court on five occasions since September 2016 for six counts of driving with no insurance, two counts of driving while disqualified, one speeding offence, one offence of driving while using a mobile phone, driving without an MOT and failing to respond to a notice of intended prosecution. He last appeared at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, November 21, 2017.

In total he has been disqualified from driving for two years, handed a four-week curfew between 9pm and 7am, handed a six-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work. He has also been ordered to pay a fine and court costs totalling £3,552, and a total of 24 penalty points were placed on his licence.

Hughes, of Buttermarket in Poundbury, became an Op Dragoon target in February 2017 when he came to the attention of officers for driving without a licence.

Since then, he has been convicted of a large number of offences including three offences of driving with no licence, two offences of driving while disqualified and five offences of driving without insurance, as well as failing to appear at court, taking a vehicle without consent, assaulting a police officer and possession of cannabis.

He last appeared at Weymouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, November 15. He was sentenced to a total of 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, disqualified from driving for a total of two years, and accumulated 12 penalty points on his licence and ordered to pay a total of £1,635 in fines and court costs.

Police Sergeant Mark Farrow, of the No Excuse team, said: “Owen Hughes and Jordan Keeble have continued to drive throughout the Op Dragoon process and pose a risk to other road users. Despite the best efforts of officers, they simply will not change their driving behaviour.

“Not only are they putting their life in danger but the lives of others who chose to get in the car with them and the general public. Their driving could have fatal consequences and we will continue to try and engage with them in an attempt to stop their offending. I hope that actively publicising their offending will act as a future deterrent to them and others.

“Keeble has been visited on several occasions and we have tried to engage with him both at home and work but he simply will not stop. We even seized his Mercedes car. He is looking at a custodial sentence if he is caught driving again," he added.