Wakefield taxi driver jailed over motorway speeding denial

The BMW was caught travelling at 91mph on the M1 in the early hours of November 8, 2018, but Naveed Asghar returned a notice of intended prosecution claiming he no longer owned the vehicle, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Jessica Strange said the 33-year-old claimed he had sold the vehicle to a car sales company but further investigation uncovered that the firm had ceased trading two months prior.

The BMW was also still insured to Asghar.

Asghar, of Agbrigg Road, Wakefield, admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice.

There were also additional offences involving the vehicle in Humberside and Surrey, although they were not pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and were also strenuously denied by Asghar, according to his barrister, Abdul Shakoor

Mitigating, Mr Shakoor said his client was a hard worker, and at the time of the offence had been working in a supermarket during the day and as a taxi driver on an evening.

He added: "He was trying to make ends meet and struggling financially. He made a very serious lapse of judgement and he has been caught out."

He is married with two young children, and a report read out to the judge suggested he was remorseful and regretted his actions.

But Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told him: "Because you are a taxi driver you wanted to avoid having points on your licence.

"You were trying to undermine the criminal justice system.

"Anyone who interferes with the operations of the criminal justice system can rightly expect a custodial sentence.

"This is such a serious offence that nothing but custody can be justified."

He jailed him for nine months.

Afterwards, Rachel Wainwright from the prosecutions and casualty prevention unit at West Yorkshire Police said: "Asghar tried to get away with it by providing false information to the Police. I am glad he was subsequently charged.

"I am pleased with the sentence handed down which shows we will not tolerate people trying to evade prosecution for poor driving on our roads.

"I hope this serves as a lesson to other people who think they can supply false details to the police. Not only will they be committing a crime but they could face prison time."