A FACTORY worker who killed his friend in a car crash should have been banned but was still driving because of a police blunder.
Pawel Zukowski, 27, crashed his car after skidding on ice near Wetwang, killing a colleague.
At the time, Zukowski should have been banned from the road after he was caught twice for driving without insurance and was given a total of 12 points.
But due to the police spelling his name incorrectly on his arrest, he had not been officially banned and on his charge sheet it looked like there were two separate defendants.
Now, Zukowski has been jailed for 12 months after he pleaded guilty to causing death while driving without insurance and failing to declare his previous driving convictions to his insurance company.
Zukowski, of 18th Avenue, north Hull, was driving to work at a factory in Malton with four colleagues when the crash happened.
His Peugeot came off the road and hit a tree.
He was driving on the B1248 about a mile north of Tibthorpe heading north, shortly before 5.20am on December 3 last year.
Passenger Robert Szlachetka, 43, died at the scene and the other men were all taken to hospital.
Zukowski had bought the car ten days before the accident and taken out insurance without telling the company about his previous convictions.
He had been stopped twice in May 2010 for driving without insurance and each time given six penalty points, which should have led to him being automatically banned from driving.
However, due to the police spelling his name incorrectly. the courts did not realise it was the same person.
It was only after the fatal crash last December that the police realised a mistake had been made and he should have been banned under the "totting up" provisions.
Prosecutor Jharna Jobes said: "Unfortunately, due to a misspelling the first time, two separate files were created and he was not disqualified, but he had 12 points on his licence.
"He then did not inform his insurance company of the convictions and, had they known, they would not have given him any cover.
"He accepts he was reckless when he took out the insurance policy."
Zukowski's barrister Jo Golding told the court he was full of remorse.
She said: "He was the nominated driver for all these men who worked at the factory.
"They suffered serious injuries and the defendant was hospitalised as a result.
"There is no suggestion his driving was in any way in question. He is deeply sorry."
Zukowski has been jailed for 12 months and banned from driving for two years.
The Honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding, Judge Michael Mettyear, told him: "He obtained insurance but it was invalid because of his failure to notify them of the two offences he had received in 2010.
"The information had been put into the names of two separate people, due to a spelling mistake. Had it been realised it was the same defendant, he would have been disqualified under the 'totting up' provisions.
"It is important to note there is no suggestion the defendant's driving was dangerous or even careless.
"This was a serious example of this offence, albeit the skill of his driving was not to be criticised.
"He should not have been driving the vehicle at all, and that is the seriousness of the offence."
