A BC judge has halved the amount of jail time given to a Southern Okanagan man who admitted in court that he'd driven without a licence on hundreds of occasions.

Osoyoos resident William John Hill was looking at 60 days in jail having been caught driving without a licence, but managed to sway BC Provincial Court Judge Shannon Keyes into cutting the sentence in half.

Appearing at the Penticton Courthouse Oct. 8, Hill admitted that he drove daily to work in Okanagan Falls and had done a couple of hundred times.

"I have to do it... I've got to work... or I'm going to be a bum like the rest of them," Hill told the court. "I don't speed. I do use my signal light. I follow all the rules of the road."

However, the one rule of the road the 55-year-old didn't follow was having a licence when he was pulled over in January 2020.

He told the court he'd just bought a new car and was heading to ICBC to pay $2,200 in fines so he could get his licence back when he was pulled over by the RCMP.

"I was like, this can't be happening," Hill told the court. "It was wild."

It's unclear why it took more than four-and-a-half years for the matter to be finally concluded in court, but court records show he failed to turn up on a couple of occasions and arrest warrants were issued.

By his own admittance, he was still driving to work every day.

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He was pulled over again in May this year and again charged with driving without a licence.

Crown prosecutor Nashina Devji described Hill's driving record as "atrocious."

His first criminal driving conviction dates back to 2011 when he was caught drunk driving. Two years later he was convicted for driving without a licence.

In 2015, Hill received his first jail sentence spending 15 days behind bars for driving without a licence, a pattern he repeated spending 30 days in jail in 2017.

"He has been given fines and jail in the past. They haven't driven home the message," the Crown said, asking for 60 days jail and a two-year driving ban.

Defence lawyer James Pennington said Hill lived in a small town with no public transit and had to get to work. The lawyer said it was a story he'd heard many times over the years and agreed with the proposed sentence of 60 days.

Pennington said Hill would return to his job when he got out and wasn't asking for jail at weekends as he just wanted to get it over and done with.

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While Hill appeared resigned to spending the next 60 days in jail, Judge Keyes had different ideas.

"You've already had sentences for this before. I really can't go anything lower than what's already been imposed on you before," the judge said. "But what I am going to do is, instead of making them consecutive to each other, I'm going to make them concurrent."

The Judge's move means Hill will spend 30 days in jail instead of 60. She also issued a one-year driving ban and not two years as requested by the Crown.

Judge Keyes noted there wasn't any bad driving involved and that Hill was going to work.

"Maybe you should consider getting something like an electric bicycle," the judge said.

Hill replied he already had one.

"Well, then that's a great step and a way to avoid having any more convictions," Judge Keyes said.

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