A killer driver was handed his licence back four years early by the DVLA after an administration error.

Halim Cholmeley, 43, of Broomhill, Glen Prosen, Angus, went on to drive repeatedly despite being banned from the road over a high-speed crash that killed a taxi driver.

Forfar Sheriff Court heard heard he used the licence that should never have been issued to take a £50,000 Audi SUV for a two-day test drive.

Cholmeley admitted four charges of driving without a licence as well as failing to provide a breath sample, driving without insurance and obtaining a licence while disqualified.

He was jailed for six years and banned from the road for a decade in 2010 after causing the death of Gavin McCabe, 41, in Dundee the previous year.

Cholmeley was already disqualified and well over the legal limit when he ploughed his BMW into a taxi being driven by Mr McCabe in an apparent high-speed suicide bid.

Having been released from jail in 2013 the recruitment consultant was spotted behind the wheel of a car in March last year and followed back to his home by police.

Three months later, in June 2016, with four years of his road ban still outstanding, Cholmeley sent off for a new licence, which was granted after an error by the DLVA.

In November 2016, he travelled to an Audi dealership in Aberdeen where he used the wrongly issued licence to secure a 48-hour test drive of a Audi SQ5 SUV.

Then, on October 27 this year, he was seen at the wheel of a car on a rural road near Montrose without a valid licence and uninsured.

Cholmeley pleaded guilty to four charges of driving while disqualified, three of driving without insurance, one of failing to give a sample of breath and one of obtaining a licence while disqualified from driving.

Sheriff Alison McKay jailed Cholmeley for six months on the March 2016 case.

Sentencing on the later cases was deferred for background reports due to the "complications" brought on by the fact he had been granted a licence by DVLA.

Ms McKay also banned him from the road for five years.

Cholmeley will in court in January to be sentenced on the charges of obtaining a licence while disqualified and driving while disqualified in November 2016 and October this year.