Friday 17:34
Impersonators who sit driving tests for others were today issued a severe warning that their action's are being monitored and will result in prosecution with tougher sentencing by the courts.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) re inforced that message today following the custodial sentencing at Oxford Crown Court of Palwinder Singh Johal.
Judge Anthony King sentenced Johal, who was charged with attempting to obtain property by deception and further counts of fraud by abuse of position, to two years imprisonment and a recommended deportation notice upon completion of his sentence.
The property referred to in the charges that Johal (24) of Slough faced were driving licences falsely obtained through impersonating others at driving test centres.
The DSA has warned that it is committed to the prosecution of offenders in order to preserve public safety and the integrity of the driving test procedure.
As well as a driving qualification, many people seek possession of a full U.K Driving Licence to establish proof of their identity to gain other identity documents and a credit standing within this country.
The DSA investigates all reported cases and works closely with the police and criminal justice agencies to identify offenders and bring them to justice.
Andrew Rice, Head of Fraud & Integrity for the Driving Standards Agency said: "Tackling impersonations is a key priority for the Agency as failing to identify offenders presents a significant danger to road safety. Through fraudulent and criminal means, impersonators gain entitlement to drive for those who are unable or unwilling to undertake the assessment to prove that they meet the required standard to drive on our roads.
"In this case Mr Johal undermined the driving test system, public safety and created a useful tool for ID Fraud. The Agency is very pleased that the judge sent a message to others when he said that anyone engaging in this activity should expect a Prison Sentence."
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is an executive agency * of the Department for Transport.
2. The DSA's vision is "Safe Driving for Life" with an overall mission to contribute towards a Government target of achieving a 40% reduction in riders and drivers killed or seriously injured in road accidents, in the age group up to 24 years, by 2010.
3. Current information on road casualties is available from the Department for Transport website: http://www.dft.gov.uk
4. The Agency's aim is to promote road safety through setting standards for drivers, riders and trainers, testing drivers and riders fairly and efficiently, maintaining the registers of Approved Driving Instructors; Large Goods Vehicle Instructors; Fleet Trainers; Driving Instructor Trainers and Post Test Motorcycle Trainers; supervising Compulsory Basic Training (CBT) for learner motorcyclists; and driver education and the provision of learning resources.
5. DSA is a trading fund * with an expected turnover of around £199 million for the year 2008/9, fully funded by fee income and revenue from its activities.
6. DSA employs over 2,700 staff, of which some 2,000 are driving examiners based at over 400 test centres across mainland Great Britain. In 2007/2008 the Agency conducted 1.8 million practical tests for car drivers, over 95,000 vocational tests and 94,000 motorcycle rider tests. A total of 1.7 million theory tests were carried out at 158 centres. At the end of the year there were around 43,600 people on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors.
7. DSA was one of the first Government Agencies to introduce an online booking service. Candidates can book and manage their theory and practical test appointments on line at http://www.direct.gov.uk/drivingtest
* Executive agency: An executive agency is semi-detached from its parent department and manages its own budget with freedom from ad hoc, day to day intervention and much of central, government-wide regulation. They are run under the organisation and direction of a Chief Executive recruited through open competition. An executive agency has accountability for the performance of specific operational tasks as a corporate unit, including focused performance targets set by the parent department and personal accountability of the chief executive for performance.
* Trading Fund: A trading fund is a means of financing trading activities undertaken by Government that would previously have been financed by annual appropriation from Parliament. A trading fund permits the establishment of a self-accounting unit that remains under the control and management of Ministers and accountable to Parliament through Ministers, but has greater freedom to manage its financial affairs. Effectively that means the trading fund body can use its income to settle its liabilities and retain year-end cash balances.
Establishing the trading fund does not alter the Agency's constitutional position and it remains part of the Department for Transport.
Client ref DSA 38/08
COI ref 164664P
