Two bungling drivers have been jailed for hatching a “ridiculously unsophisticated” plot to get one of them a licence.
Hadi Mohammed, 28, a former Iraqi police officer, had failed his test five times and his friend, Derbas Hamed, a qualified driver, agreed to step in and take the examination for him.
Eyebrows were raised when Hamed, 25, was spotted driving up to the test centre in Gloucester alone. Hamed pretended to be Mohammed and took the test but failed in “spectacular fashion”, making 16 mistakes, Gloucester crown court heard. Staff were suspicious and called the police.
Rosie Walsh, for the prosecution, said: “Mr Mohammed had booked to take his driving test in Gloucester. He had failed the test five times beforehand.”
She said Hamed showed staff his friend’s provisional licence and because they looked similar he was allowed to take the test.
Walsh added: “When the police interviewed Mr Hamed at first he gave his name as Mr Mohammed but when he was arrested he confessed. When Mr Mohammed was also arrested he said he had been too tired to take the test.”
Giles Nelson, in mitigation for Mohammed, said: “My client did not actively commit the deception and played a secondary part.
“It was an extremely unsophisticated fraud, ridiculously unsophisticated and amateurish. He got nowhere near succeeding and is thoroughly ashamed.
“Since coming to this country from Iraq he is desperate to find work and needs a driving licence.”
Lloyd Jenkins, for father-of-two Hamed, said: “My client was candid in interview and has apologised. He drove his friend to Gloucester as a favour and on the way the plan was hatched. There was no money involved.
“My client says that he realised what he was doing was wrong so he deliberately failed the test in a spectacular fashion. He had 16 driving faults.”
The men, who are from Bristol, admitted fraud by false representation. Mohammed was jailed for two months and Hamed, who has a previous conviction for fraud after he impersonated someone else for a driving theory test, was sent to prison for three months.
Recorder Michael De Navarro QC told the men: “This is a very serious offence and had you both been successful a completely unqualified driver and not a very good one at that would have been let loose on the roads.
“This would have meant a danger to other road-users and only a custodial sentence is justified. I do not accept Mr Hamed’s contention that he failed the test deliberately.”

The rioting in London has caused mayhem for thousands; roads have been closed, meaning huge delays and inconvenience for thousands of commuters and local residents.

The damage caused includes burnt out cars, both private vehicles and police vehicles. These police cars are used daily to help members of the public yet these rioters do not seem to realise they are spiting themselves. They are smashing shops where they get their shopping, post offices where they collect their benefits and emergency service vehicles that might save their friends of families’ lives.

The saddest thing of all is the large number of people that have lost their homes and livelihoods through no fault of their own.

Whatever the reason for the rioting, whether it be anger over the killing of Mark Duggan, 29, anger over widespread unemployment, frequent stop-and-search checks by police and exclusions from schools or just mindless criminality, it’s not right and we need to step up and rebuild the areas that have been affected and stick together as a community.

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Police have expressed concern over an increase in the number of people arrested for drink driving in Plymouth.
Officers revealed 12 people were held over the weekend of 4-8 August compared to five for the same weekend in 2010.
Of the 14 people stopped, 13 were men and the majority were under thirty, a Devon and Cornwall Police said.
Plymouth’s road casualty reduction officer PC Ian Tanner said it was clear they needed to target “young men” to “really get the message across”.
“Over the weekend we have dealt with at least double the number of people we normally breathalyse over an average weekend in Plymouth,” he said.
Insp Richard Pryce said the rise was unacceptable and they would continue in their efforts to bring it down.

New Zealanders will now have to wait until they are 16 before learning to drive, the previous minimum driving age was 15. The new law which was introduced on August 1st was introduced alongside two other laws which are aimed to reduce accidents involving young motorists.

Another law imposed now states that those under the age of 20 will not be allowed to consume alcohol before driving. The current blood alcohol limit for drivers under 20 is 30mgs of alcohol per 100mls of blood, but this is now reduced to zero.

The country also sees changes taking place in February 2012 with the restricted licence test. This will involve young learners spending more time having lessons under supervision before being allowed to drive alone.

Only 15% of motorists are aged under 25 years in New Zealand, yet they account for over a third of accidents that cause serious injury. These new laws are hoping to improve the safety of young drivers and reduce the number of accidents involving young people.

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Tyre pressure should be checked every week or so, and definitely before a long journey. It’s something that needs doing when the tyres are cold because after a long journey the readings will be different. Your car manual will tell you what they should be for the front and back wheels of your particular model; it’s possible to buy a little pen-shaped gadget from Halfords for less than six pounds which lets you check your pressure at home.

You can check your tyre pressure at most petrol station forecourts, if they’re not what they should be, and then you’ll need to inflate your tyres. There should be a machine for doing this on the same forecourt.

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Currently you are allowed to make maximum of 15 driving faults, but no serious or dangerous faults. The same fault can be minor, serious, or dangerous, depending on the circumstances at the time. For example, rolling backwards when moving off uphill could be a minor fault if there is nothing behind you, but would be a serious fault if there was, however, if there is people behind you as you roll backwards, it becomes a dangerous fault. If you repeat the same minor fault, usually 4 times, it is considered serious, and you will fail.

Simon Bush at Britannia Driving School says: “The Driving Test is “real” driving, but also a technical exercise and an observation test, so try to be as perfect as you can.”

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Crash: Charles Wyly died after his Porsche was struck by another vehicle as he was turning left off a state highway over the weekendA billionaire who was at the centre of a $500 million insider dealing probe has been killed in a horrific car crash while driving his Porsche.Charles Wyly, from Texas, was driving near a home he maintains is Aspen, Colorado, when his Porsche was hit by a sport utility vehicle on Sunday.The 77-year-old died shortly afterwards at Aspen Valley Hospital.The other driver suffered moderate injuries.Last summer, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Wyly and his brother of using offshore havens to hide more than a half-billion dollars in profits over 13 years of insider stock trading. The brothers denied and were fighting the allegations.Wyly’s family is also renowned for donated millions of dollars to Republican causes.In Texas, he and his younger brother, Sam, along with their wives, gave $20 million to help build Dallas’s performing arts center. They also are said to have given about $10 million to GOP candidates and causes since the 1970s.’He is among the finest people I have ever known,’ William Brewer III, Wyly’s attorney and long-time friend, said. ‘His contributions in business, philanthropy and civic leadership will forever be remembered.’

The DVLA have made it compulsory for drivers applying for a new licence or a replacement licence to answer whether they wish to be an organ donor.

At present the question has been voluntary but as of the 1st August drivers must answer whether they want to register their details on the NHS Organ Donor Register to donate their organs following their death.

The waiting lists for organ transplants are endless and there are desperately ill people who could start a whole new life with a transplant. The aim is to get people to stop avoiding the question and make a decision either way.

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THE number of motorists drink driving in the county remains the same as last year despite campaigns to stop it.
Gloucestershire Police carried out over 500 breath tests on drivers during their annual summer drink drive campaign and arrested 52 people.
The percentage of people who failed the test, eight per cent, was the same as last year.
Inspector of the Road Safety and Traffic Management department, Jason Keates, said: “It is encouraging that the number of drivers breaking the law hasn’t increased. However, it is disappointing that we haven’t seen a reduction and that there are still people who insist on risking their lives and the lives of others by drinking and driving.
“We would like to reassure the community that our work doesn’t end when the campaign does and we will continue to be vigilant in bringing offenders to justice and keeping the county’s roads safe.”
The Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership, which includes Gloucestershire Police, launched its summer campaign on June 1 to appeal to drivers to make proper plans for getting home safely if they had been out socialising, particularly after watching the football in pubs and clubs.
The campaign ran until the beginning of July and during the month officers around the county carried out breath tests on a total of 540 drivers.
Of those tested 43 either gave a positive test or refused to give a breath specimen.
The drivers arrested will now be processed through the courts and those proven to have been drink driving will have a minimum 12 month driving ban imposed on them. They will also receive a criminal record and could receive up to six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000.
Andre Bovington, skills for life manager at Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership added: “We want people to understand that drinking affects your judgement, and if you drink and then drive you are at a greater risk of causing a collision and seriously hurting someone. It’s as simple as that.”

With the recession still showing no signs of budging, everyone is making cuts and saving their pennies.

UK drivers bought one billion fewer litres of fuel at the start of this year in comparison to the start of 2008 pre-recession.

With fuel prices soaring making it impossible for some motorists to stay on the road, everyone else is attempting to reduce their costs and purchase as little fuel as possible.

The treasury is thought to have missed out on more than £630m in tax revenue.

However, environmentalists may see this particular change as a positive one, with more people walking or using public transport it is better for the environment but, families are affected in so many areas of their lives.

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