A HEROIN addict who repeatedly defied a driving ban was jailed yesterday.

Andrea Johnson admitted five counts of driving while disqualified, five of not being insured and others of careless driving and skipping bail.

Harrogate magistrates jailed the 36-year-old, described by her solicitor Helen Camidge as intelligent and caring but vulnerable, for four months. She was banned from driving for three years.

Nicholas De Le Poer, prosecuting, said Johnson's offending began soon after a ban for drink-driving. On one occasion, she ran into the back of another car.

Mrs Camidge said Johnson, of North Lodge Avenue, New Park, Harrogate, had lost her job at a DIY store because of her offending and now stood to be made homeless.

In spite of a troubled upbringing, Johnson had excelled at school and went to university, where she became a heroin addict.

Mrs Camidge said Johnson had taken over responsibility for her mother's 24-hour care because her frail 75-year-old stepfather could not help.

She had driven backwards and forwards to help her mother and was at her bedside when she died.

Mrs Camidge said: "It is almost as if she did not register the disqualification. She perhaps got her priorities wrong."