mark ward, 24, was stopped by police in 'death trap' bmw while driving his heavily pregnant sister  a car enthusiast has been banned from the roads after he was caught driving his heavily pregnant sister in his 'death trap' car mark ward, 24, was stopped by officers on a coastal road in prestatyn, north wales, who found his modified bmw 328 had several defects including wires danging from the glove box it also had interior door panels missing, a faulty horn, 'stretched and worn' balding tyres which were the wrong size and an anti lock braking system that did not work the car, which was scratched and dented, was seized and impounded and a further examination revealed it had a quick release steering wheel, to help get in and out of the vehicle quicker ward, of thornhill in cumbria, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at llandudno magistrates court, and was given a year long ban with an extended test and 80 hours community work but the unemployed welder, who was driving at around 28mph when he was pulled over in august last year, has hit out at his conviction, claiming police made 'an example' of him ward, who paid £550 for the car in 2013, is part of a car club that holds track races, car shows and family fun days and described himself as a 'competent driver' who would never put others at risk he said: 'all of the modifications that were made to my car were done so for the shows and races that i take part in i kept it in very good condition 'on the day that i was pulled over i was driving within the speed limit my sister adele was heavily pregnant at the time and i would not put her or anyone else at risk by driving a car which i believed to be unsafe i am a competent driver and i pay my tax, insurance and mot 'i don't drink or smoke or go out causing trouble i have never been in trouble with the police before but now i have a criminal record for dangerous driving and it will ruin job prospects for me in the future 'i am a massive car enthusiast and i have been modifying cars ever since i passed my driving test five years ago police found his modified bmw 328 had several defects after he was stopped on a coastal road in prestatyn  his car had electrical wires dangling from where the glove box should have been and interior door panels missing he also had a removable steering wheel to make getting in and out of the car easier (all pictured) 'my bmw had a number of modifications but it had passed its mot two months before i was pulled over so i had no reason to assume it wasn't safe to drive 'i used to use the car for shows, drifting and track races, so i removed the interior panels to make the car more lightweight and added a free flowing exhaust to extract more power from the engine 'the wires that were on show were cable tied and secure and there are no laws which say mechanisms cannot be on show it makes no difference to the car' he added that he had intended to take the car off the road after noticing the handbrake was locking one wheel instead of two but had been asked to drive the car as part of a funeral procession the balding tyres were 'stretched and worn' and were not even the correct size for the vehicle (pictured) ward, of thornhill in cumbria, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving at llandudno magistrates court, and was given a year long ban with an extended test and 80 hours community work after the car (above) was seized  ward, who has owned 25 cars since passing his driving test five years ago, said: 'a week before i was pulled over i had a bump on the tracks when i was drifting i repaired it, drove it home and parked it up 'a couple of days later i was asked to drive the car as part of a funeral procession, so i did that and the next day i was pulled over 'bmws have a common fault with the handbrake i have had 70s and 80s cars and not one of them has had anti lock breaks if i genuinely thought the car was unsafe it wouldn't have been on the road 'i now accept that the tyres were really bad and there's no excuse for that it was a lack of judgement on my part' the motor enthusiast, who paid £550 for the car in 2013, is part of a car club that holds track races, car shows and family fun days  but the unemployed welder, who was driving within the limit when he was stopped, has since hit out at police  his lawyer david matthews said: 'mr ward readily accepts the car wasn't up to a proper standard 'he's genuinely sorry for what he has done because as a car enthusiast he does realise he should have taken greater care to make sure his vehicle was in a proper condition there's no suggestion he was stopped for any poor driving' pc nia owen, from north wales police, said: 'the car was completely unfit for road use it is only lucky that this vehicle was not involved in a serious collision as it was a death trap 'i urge all motorists to ensure their vehicles are fit for road use so as to avoid prosecution and maintain road safety'
prestatyn mark ward ward 24 bmw wales year 328
mark ward, 24, was stopped by police on a coast road in prestatyn, wales  they found his modified bmw 328 had several defects in close inspection  had missing interior door panels, bald tyres, faulty brakes and loose wires  car was seized and ward admitted dangerous driving and given year ban  the welder has hit out at police who he says made 'an example' of him 