A TAXI driver from Birmingham who dodged fines and penalty points for speeding has been jailed for six months.

Mohammed Qayum, a Hackney Carriage driver, admitted perverting the course of justice when he appeared before Birmingham Crown Court.
A TAXI driver from Birmingham who dodged fines and penalty points for speeding has been jailed for six months.

Mohammed Qayum, a Hackney Carriage driver, admitted perverting the course of justice when he appeared before Birmingham Crown Court.


As well as being jailed he was given a 12 month disqualification from driving.

West Midlands Police say Qayum was originally clocked on the M42 doing 60mph in a 50mph zone in March 2012. His Peugeot taxi activated a temporary speed camera between junctions six and seven on the northbound carriageway and a prosecution form was sent to his Aston home.

Qayum, aged 37, returned the form a month later stating that another man had been driving at the time, and gave that person’s details and a Rugeley address. But when police tried to contact the supposed new driver, the notice was returned as having been sent to an invalid address.

The case was closed when the driver could not be traced.

After apparently getting away with his earlier misdemeanour, Qayum struck again in October 2013 when his Peugeot was captured travelling more than 20mph over the speed limit on the A38 Bristol Road in Birmingham. Despite a limit of 30mph the driver was caught travelling at 51mph on a mobile camera.

A notice was again sent to Qayum’s home on Woodridge, Aston, which he returned this time claiming that another Birmingham man was driving his cab. The alleged driver was never traced and the ticket was again cancelled.

Subsequent enquiries by officers in West Midlands Police Camera Enforcement Unit unearthed Qayum’s false reports, with officers first suspecting his crimes when they identified that the address given for the second speeding offence did not exist. The previous offence was then checked and this address was also found to have been false. Police arrested Qayum who told officers that he had paid a ‘friend of a friend’ to sort out his speeding tickets and as he had not heard anything else afterwards assumed he had gotten away with his crime − which had seen him evade six penalty points and a £200 fine.

Speaking after the sentencing, PC Jason Dooley, from the Camera Enforcement Unit, said: “While the driver’s crimes were committed out of fear for losing his livelihood, that cannot excuse the fact that he deliberately tried to evade prosecution for traffic offences.

“Perverting the course of justice is a criminal offence and the fact that Qayum has been given a prison sentence sends a clear message that such offences will not be tolerated.

“Even in cases, such as this one, when the false reports were made some time ago we continue to make enquiries so offenders should never feel that they have gotten away with it as no case is ever truly closed.”

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/taxi-driver-who-hid-points-8894587