Frenchman punished, drove 57 yrs without licence

Nantes, France, Mar 10: A French court gave a plumber a three-month suspended jail sentence on Friday for driving for 57 years without a licence.

The 78-year-old was pulled over in January after losing control of his vehicle and hitting a crash barrier. He was found to be over the blood alcohol limit.

''It was just bad luck,'' said his lawyer Jean-Michel Pollono yesterday.

The man, who had driven a 3.5 tonne truck during his 40-year career, had had a military driver's licence since 1949 but it had never been stamped by the local authorities.

The court confiscated his vehicle and banned him from taking a driving test for 10 months.

Reuters