False name speeding taxi driver fails in bid for freedom

Zahid Arif (25), of Renway Road, Broom, was clocked doing 38mph in a 30mph speed zone on July 26 last year, Mrs Justice Thirlwall told the London court.

But when the penalty notice was sent to the father-of-one he returned the form with a fictitious name, Imran Khan, and an address in Bradford.

Arif was soon caught out as he was the only person licensed to drive the taxi, said the judge.

He admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed for three months at Sheffield Crown Court on August 10.

Ms Nicola Quinney, for Arif, argued his jail term should have been suspended because of the “exceptional” circumstances of his case.

She pointed to his age, previous good character and guilty plea.

At the time of his crime, Arif’s aunt had recently died and he was in the midst of a divorce, the court heard.

But Mrs Justice Thirlwall, who was sitting with Mrs Justice Elisabeth Laing, said: “We are quite satisfied that there is nothing exceptional about this case.”

She said it was an “error of judgment designed to avoid prosecution” and that an “immediate prison sentence was inevitable”.

The judge concluded: “The ultimate sentence of three months imprisonment was neither wrong in principle nor manifestly excessive.”