A DAD has revealed how he lost his livelihood and thousands of pounds income after being "wrongly convicted" of a driving offence.

The Crown Prosecution Service has apologised to Daniel Stanborough, from Westcliff, after admitting an “unacceptable error” led to him being found guilty.

The 38-year-old, from Park Terrace, works as a courier and claims his employer told him he would be unable to work after Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court, in London, handed him six points on his licence when he was convicted of “failing to provide evidence”.

After receiving the initial penalty charge notice, Mr Stanborough provided all necessary information, however this was not picked up by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Mr Stanborough was convicted in his absence on August 22 and claims he was unable to work until the court ruling was overturned at the start of this month.

He said: “I have three young kids, being a self-employed man living in the world we’re living in, there wasn’t a big savings pot.

“I was left with nothing for nine weeks, I couldn’t get re-employed. I’ve ended up in debt over this, with no work, three kids and a house to support. It’s soul destroying.

“I get everyone makes mistakes, but why couldn’t it go back into court the next day, it would have taken five-to-ten minutes to be heard in front of a judge, why did it take until October?

“In my eyes, that should have been heard within a week. That’s where the court system is wrong.”

The retrial was held on October 2 and the offence was withdrawn without penalty.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “This was an unacceptable error and we are contacting Mr Stanborough to express our profound apologies for the impact this has had on him.

“Clearly we will now review what has happened on this occasion to ensure that lessons are learnt, and that it does not happen again.”

The single justice procedure, under which Mr Stanborough was wrongly convicted, gives magistrates powers to try minor criminal offences without a court hearing.

A Met Police spokesperson said: “The driver of a car was summonsed to appear at court in relation to a traffic offence that occurred on January 25. He was subsequently prosecuted – this was an error.

“Once this was flagged to us we liaised with the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure the situation was rectified.”