When that letter drops on the doormat most drivers will probably grimace and then prepare themselves for a fine and three points on the licence or maybe a day spent on a speed awareness course. But some drivers take a different tack and think they can scam their way out of trouble only to find themselves in a lot more bother as they land up in the dock of a crown court facing a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice – an offence which carries the possibility of a hefty prison sentence.
Here are some of the lies, ruses, scams and tricks drivers in Wales have tried to avoid points on their licence.
The one who created a fake builder living in a dead neighbour's house
When businessman Robert Shepherd was clocked doing 74mph on a 60mph stretch of the A465 Heads of the Valleys road near Cefn-Coed-y-Cymer it was to be the start of an extraordinary series of lies he told. After the notice of intended prosecution landed on his doormat Shepherd invented a fictitious builder called Paul Mason whom he claimed lived down the road – in a house which Shepherd knew had lain empty since its owner had died. When the defendant was caught speeding for a second time six months later – this time doing 36mph in a 30mph zone in Newport Road in Cardiff – he came up with a new lie, this time claiming his car had been parked outside his house on the day in question and his plates must have been cloned. He then added little Welsh stickers to his plates before pointing out that the plates seen in the speed camera photo did not have them. Following a lengthy and expensive investigation the police uncovered the truth about both sets of speeding offences.
Robert George Shepherd, aged 53, of Sycamore Crescent, Baglan, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of perverting the course of justice when he appeared in the dock of Swansea Crown Court for sentencing in June 2021. Ian Ibrahim, for Shepherd, described what the father-of-two had done as "remarkably stupid". He said it was astonishing that a man who had done so much for the community, including refurbishing a kickboxing gym for youngsters and donating food to NHS staff during the Covid pandemic, should have behaved in the way he did. He added that the defendant suffered with health problems, had lost his Thai food businesses as a result of the pandemic, and his wife's immigration status in the UK was "perilous".
Judge Niclas Parry said what the defendant had done struck at the root of the justice system and had led to a significant waste of police resources. He told Shepherd his actions beggared belief and were confirmation that he could be a "deceitful liar". With credit for his guilty pleas Shepherd was sentenced to 14 months in prison suspended for 12 months, was made the subject of nightly curfew for three months, and was disqualified from driving for a year. He was also ordered to pay £800 toward the cost of his prosecution.
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The one who added stripes to his van
When William Britton was snapped doing 74mph in a 60mph zone on the A40 in Carmarthenshire rather than taking the three points on his licence he went out and bought stickers for his Ford Transit and used them to pretend the vehicle caught on camera wasn't his. Britton emailed the speeding enforcement team raising concerns that his van had been cloned and then a week later he sent a photo of his vehicle which now had large black stripes on the bonnet, red stripes on the side, a speed limit sticker, and GB suffix on the number plate – distinctive marks which were not seen on the vehicle snapped by the speed camera. A court heard the authorities became suspicious and launched a detailed investigation.
Investigators found 62-year-old Britton's phone had travelled from his home in Caerphilly to Pembroke Dock and back on the day of the speeding offence and had been connected to a mobile mast near Ammanford shortly after the time he was caught on camera near Carmarthen. They also found he had bought black and red vehicle stripes, a speed limit sticker, and GB licence plate sticker after the date of the ticket and they found automatic number plate recognition camera images of the van from around that time showing it without any of the eye-catching additions. In total the officer investigating the circumstances of the ticket spent some 300 hours on the case.
William Britton, of Gelli Dawel, Energlyn, Caerphilly, had previously pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice when he appeared in the dock for sentencing in October 2022. Swansea Crown Court heard he had three points on his licence at the time he was caught speeding so had he admitted the offence an additional three points would not have led to a loss of licence as a driver can be disqualified as a "totter" if he or she reaches a total of 12 points.
Matt Murphy, for Britton, said the defendant was going through a "particularly difficult period of his life" at the time as he cared for his terminally-ill wife. He said the only explanation for his client's actions was the "sentimental value" attached to the van, which had been purchased for a road trip around southern Europe long-planned by the couple but never taken. The advocate said the defendant had himself been diagnosed with a potentially serious illness.
Judge Catherine Richards said Britton had engaged in a "planned and prolonged" attempt to deceive the authorities that had resulted in enormous amounts of public money and resources having to be used to investigate it. She said attempting to pervert the course of justice was always taken seriously by the courts as it was "an affront to criminal justice system" and she said there was a "very strong public interest" in sending those guilty of the offence to prison.
With a one-third discount for his guilty plea Britton was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for 12 months and was disqualified from driving for six months. He was also ordered to pay £500 towards prosecution costs.
The one who paid a Mr Fix It to make his speeding ticket go away
A driver worried about losing his licence after being caught on camera using his mobile phone paid a shadowy 'Mr Fix It' to make the problem go away. In return for handing over £300 to the unnamed fixer Anthony Blackford was provided with the genuine details of an innocent person who he could name as the driver.
Swansea Crown Court heard in March 2022 how the defendant was photographed using a phone as he drove a van on the busy A48 near the M4 Pont Abraham roundabout. The registered keeper of the van – leasing company GRS Motors Group – was asked to provide details of the driver and the firm gave Blackford’s details. A notice of intended prosecution was sent to the self-employed plumber but he responded by giving the details of a man in Doncaster and naming him as the driver on the day in question. Though the details given to police were of a genuine person he could not be found at the Yorkshire address provided so police went back to Blackford to ask for more information. A second request to name the driver went unanswered and when the defendant was finally spoken to he told police he had not received the requests for information as he had moved and he denied knowing anything about returning the form with the Doncaster address. However the police fingerprinted the letter which had been returned to them and matched the prints to 33-year-old Blackford and they also compared the image caught on camera at Pont Abraham with the defendant's driving licence picture held by the DVLA.
Anthony Blackford, of Llanddarog near Carmarthen, had previously pleaded to perverting the course of justice when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. Barrister David Leathley, for Blackford, said it was the fear of getting points on his licence and of being disqualified which had led the self-employed plumber to turn to the services of a 'Mr Fix It'. He said his client had paid the fixer – who the barrister said he was not going to name – £300 to "in effect make the problem go away" and he described Blackford as "astonishingly naïve".
Judge Geraint Walters said he was going to take the "quite exceptional" step of not imposing immediate custody. Blackford was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for 18 months, was banned from driving for eight months, and was ordered to pay £720 towards the cost of his prosecution.
The one who falsely named his brother then lied to a judge in court
A driver facing a suspended sentence for giving false details to the police instead found himself being locked up after telling lies to the judge. Abul Hushain wrote a letter to the judge in which he apologised for his actions and said and had not committed any other offences. But an updated record put before the court showed the 21-year-old had in fact appeared before magistrates twice for motoring offences.
Hushain had been driving his BWM in the Sandfields area of Swansea when he was originally pulled over by police. The defendant gave his name as Abul Hassan and showed officers a driving licence in that name. The court heard the details checked out and the car was indeed registered to a man by that name living at the address shown on the licence. Due to the strong smell of cannabis coming from the vehicle police administered a roadside test which was positive for the drug. The driver was arrested and taken to Swansea Central police station where he again gave the name Hassan. A sample of blood was taken to be sent for analysis and the driver was released under investigation.
The BMW came to the attention of police again a few weeks later when, due to the manner in which it was being driven, it was pulled over. Again the driver gave his name as Abul Hassan and checks showed the car had expired insurance. The driver was told he was going to be summonsed to court and was allowed on his way.
A summons was duly issued to the registered keeper of the car and the real Abul Hassan attended Swansea Magistrates' Court to answer it. He told the court he had not been driving the car on the day in question and when he spoke to the attending police officer – the same officer had carried out the second stop – the PC confirmed he was not the person he had spoken to at the roadside. Then court heard the person who had been driving had a small but distinctive scar which the man in court did not. The case was discontinued and Mr Hassan went home where he confronted his brother, the defendant Abul Hushain, and the truth emerged.
Abul Hushain, aged 21, of Bond Street, Sandfields, Swansea, admitted two counts of perverting the course of justice when he appeared in the dock for sentencing in November 2021. A newly-updated antecedent record showed he has convictions from 2020 and 2021 from magistrates' courts in Llanelli and Swansea for failing to stop after an accident and failing to provide driver details. He was fined and had points put on his licence for those offences, taking his total to 11 penalty points.
Dan Griffiths, for Hushain, said when the defendant had been stopped he had not long passed his test and, knowing he had earlier smoked cannabis, "panicked" and gave his brother's details. The advocate acknowledged that Hushain then had numerous opportunities to "come clean" and give the correct details but had not and had then gone one to give the false details again the following month. He said it was his understanding that Mr Hassan had been "blissfully unaware" that his sibling was driving around with his documents and passing himself off as his brother.
Judge Christopher Vosper QC said when he had prepared the case the night before the hearing it had seemed to him that the defendant had put this episode of "foolish behaviour" – committed when he was a teenager – behind him and he was prepared to suspend the custodial sentence that was due. He said he had read the letter Hushain had written to him in which he said he had a clean record and had never been involved in any kind of criminal case before but he had then also read the updated antecedent record which showed otherwise.
He told the defendant: "You attempted to mislead police when you were 18. You have sought to mislead me and this court today – an attempt, no doubt, to minimise the sentence to be imposed. I have, therefore, some doubts whether this is a case that is appropriate for suspension. Can it be said you are suited for rehabilitation when even today you are attempting to mislead people? My view yesterday was that it was a sentence that could be suspended. However, given you have sought to mislead the court, I take the view that it would now not be appropriate."
Giving the defendant a one-quarter discount for his guilty pleas the judge sentenced Hushain to 12 weeks in prison. He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months with the ban extended by six weeks to cover the length of time he was to spend behind bars.
The one who fitted a laser jammer to his number plate
As Jason Moore drove his van along the A40 near the Nantyci Showground in St Clears, Carmarthenshire, a speed camera operator tried to take a reading but instead got an error message on his machine. Suspicious about what had just happened the operator sent footage of the incident for analysis by a forensic video analyst and laser jammer expert. The expert was able to confirm a "suspect device" visible in the video images and he noticed a flashing light from the grille of the van as the error message appeared. It was subsequently determined the van had been doing 72mph in the 60 zone.
The VW Transporter was seized and examined and Moore was charged with perverting the course of justice. The 34-year-old defendant denied the offence, claiming the device on his vehicle was a parking sensor, but his version of events was rejected by a jury.
Moore, of Ambleston, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, had previously been convicted at trial when he appeared in the dock for sentencing in November 2021. He was sentenced to 32 weeks custody suspended for two years was ordered to pay costs and fines totalling £3,000 and was made the subject of a two-month curfew.
The one who who named an innocent driver who ended up being convicted
When police in Burry Port spotted an illegal number plate on a vehicle they sent a letter to the registered keeper – Kidwelly shopkeeper Parmjit Sidhu – asking for details of the driver. Rather than owning up the 44-year-old sent the authorities the details of a man called Steven Wilson who lived near York. Mr Wilson was subsequently convicted in his absence for the number plate offence and six penalty points were put on his licence. The innocent driver knew nothing of his conviction until a year later when he tried to hire a car and the endorsement came to light. Mr Wilson contacted the police and an investigation was launched.
As part of that probe police spoke to the defendant and tried to speak to a number people whose names he provided and they also made inquiries with Interpol about Sidhu's Spanish partner. During this process the defendant provided officers with photographs of documents which he said supported his original version of events including a driving licence the number of which the DVLA confirmed did not exist.
Parmjit Sidhu, of Water Street, Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, admitted perverting the course of justice when he appeared at Swansea Crown Court in June 2021. James McCrindell, for Sindhu, said the father of two teenage children understood he had done wrong. He said it was conceded his client, who comes originally from Reading, committed "quite a bit of offending in his teens and early 20s" but in latter years had moved to south Wales to be with his father and had taken over and transformed a "run-down community store". He said Sidhu was held in high regard by many people in Kidwelly, especially for his work to ensure deliveries of food to elderly and vulnerable members of the community.
Judge Paul Thomas QC said a sentence of immediate custody was to be expected in all but the most exceptional of circumstances. He said the defendant had engaged in a "pattern of lies and deception to simply avoid the consequences of a relatively minor matter" including giving false details of a wholly innocent driver to the police. The judge noted it was not known how Sidhu had acquired the details of the driver from York who he had falsely named. Giving the defendant a 25% discount for his guilty plea the judge sentenced him to three months in prison.
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