Prison the next stop for lying taxi driver

Mohammed Khawaja: jailed

A taxi driver who invented a fictitious person to avoid paying speeding fines was jailed for eight months at Manchester Crown Court yesterday.

Mohammed Khawaja (60), of Chamber Road, Hollinwood, was caught speeding five times between June and December, 2013. Rather than pay the fines, he invented a person he claimed was the driver.

Khawaja pleaded guilty to five counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of completing a regitration document with false information.

The father of six was the registered keeper of a private hire Ford Focus caught doing 39mph in a 30mph zone in Oldham on June 28, 2013. But when a prosecution notice was sent to his home he claimed he had sold the car to a Mohammed Saleem of Corona Avenue eight days before.

A notice was sent to Mr Saleem at an unoccupied property and Khawaja falsified vehicle registration documents to validate his claim.

The next four times the car was caught speeding, notices were sent to that address, by which time it had new occupants. Each time the notices were returned, Khawaja was contacted and lied about having sold the car to Mr Saleem.

But Khawaja’s taxi company tracks its vehicles and requires employees to enter a pin number when they start work - proving he was still driving the car after he claimed it had been sold.

Judge Leemer, sentencing, said: “Your references show you were concerned about losing you licence, but this was a deliberate attempt to deceive the authorities. These are far more serious than motoring offences.”