Motorist faked death to avoid speeding fines

12:52am Monday 21st January 2008

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By Peter Magill »

A DRIVER who tried to fake his own death to avoid three speeding charges was caught when police recognised him from a speed camera image.

Father-to-be Shafkat Munir, of Mulberry Walk, Blackburn, was worried that if he was caught speeding, and possibly banned from the roads, he could lose his job as a waiter at a restaurant, a court heard.

Munir had been issued with three summonses in January and February 2007 - two in Lancashire and one in South Yorkshire - and initially accepted he was the driver of the Honda Civic in question.

But he later sent a death certificate, written in Urdu, to both police forces, claiming that a 'Shafkat Munir' had actually died four years previously, Preston Crown Court was told.

The 26-year-old was jailed for 12 months after admitting three offences of attempting to pervert the course of justice at an earlier court hearing.

Prosecutor Emma Keogh said police became suspicious, especially officers in South Yorkshire, and launched further inquiries.

Munir's photo was on the police national computer after he was jailed in 2005 for two months for stealing from his former employers, the De Tabley Bar and Grill in Ribchester, where he worked as a head waiter.

The photo matched a speed camera image, captured of the driver in the South Yorkshire speeding offence.

Further checks were made with the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea, which held Munir's driving records, with their picture also bearing a striking resemblance to the suspected speeder.

Munir was arrested and immediately made admissions to police about what he had done.

Michael Gleeson, defending, said his client had made a "pathetic attempt" to evade justice which was always going to be discovered.

While Munir did have previous convictions, he had now settled down and held down a steady job at a restaurant in Manchester, he added.

It was because he feared losing his driving licence, which he needed for work, that he had sent the death certificate to police, said Mr Gleeson.

The court heard that Munir had also wanted to keep his licence as his wife was receiving IVF treatment at a Leeds hospital at the time.

This had proved successful and she was now expecting their first child late this year.

Munir also looked after his mother and any prison sentence would hit his family hard, added Mr Gleeson.

Jailing Munir, Judge Andrew Gilbart QC said: "Interfering with the course of justice demands a custodial sentence, especially if there is a calculated plan to disrupt a prosecution by the production of a fraudulent death certificate."

Munir was also banned from driving for 18 months - the original speeding offences could not be prosecuted because they had now fallen outside the six months statute of limitations for such charges.

Speaking after the sentencing, John Davies, project manager for Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety, said: "Pretending to be dead to avoid paying speeding fines amounting to £180 is almost unbelievable.

"Munir's licence was clean before this spate of incidents and he would have still been able to drive - I have never known anyone go to such lengths.

"All credit to investigating officers across the forces for their determination to bring this man to face justice."

He added: "Excess speed is at least partly to blame for one in three deaths on Lancashire's roads and speed limits are in place to protect us.

"Those caught speeding will be prosecuted and may well trigger investigations into previous offences if the slightest suspicion is raised."