On July 6, 2019, Saado El-Yassir attempted to nominate a false driver to police after a speed camera caught his vehicle travelling at an excessive speed on Preston Road.
The 52-year-old electrician failed to respond to two notices requesting identification of the driver of the green Mercedes registered in his name.
He denied the charges against him, instead nominating another man from Brent, London.
Officers conducted searches but found no evidence of this man’s existence.
Their investigations also revealed that the nominated driver man’s licence contained several nominations from different individuals for other speeding offences.
The driver’s licence is thought to have been used as a “ghost licence” for drivers to avoid points and penalties for traffic violations.
At a magistrates’ court hearing in January 2020, El-Yassir was found guilty and ordered to pay a £660 fine, £85 costs, and a £66 victim surcharge.
He then filed an appeal against the conviction, but did not appear at the hearing. As a result, the conviction was upheld.
Meanwhile, officers continued to investigate his claims, and during an interview, El-Yassir was asked about handwriting on the forms he provided to nominate another driver.
He claimed that a “garage” had completed the forms for him.
He did not, however, reveal the location of the garage or who he had spoken with there.
So the Crown Prosecution Service charged him with perverting the course of justice, and he was found guilty on April 13 at Chichester Crown Court.
On May 26, El-Yassir, of Booth Road, Colindale, London, was sentenced to six weeks in prison and a £122 victim surcharge at the same court.
“El-Yassir was clearly using false details in order to avoid prosecution,” said investigating officer Christopher Raynor after the case.
“The original offence was speeding at 38 mph in a 30 mph zone.”
“It would have resulted in six penalty points and a fixed penalty notice on his licence.” He instead attempted to use a ghost licence.
This sentence demonstrates that those who attempt to deceive the police and courts will be apprehended and prosecuted.
El-Yassir was convicted as part of Operation Pinocchio, which Sussex Police launched in 2016 with the following goals:
• To improve road safety in Sussex by tracing and prosecuting offenders who provide false information in order to avoid prosecution.
• To keep law-abiding motorists who have been misled from committing serious criminal offences by attempting to avoid speeding or red light violations.
