Woman Jailed After Taking 150 Driving Tests For Other People
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A woman has been jailed after she took approximately 150 practical and theory driving tests for other people across England and Wales.
Inderjeet Kaur, from Llanelli, south Wales, took the tests between 2018 and 2020, travelling to the likes of Swansea, Carmarthen, Birmingham and London.
Eventually though, staff at test centres grew suspicious, and following a referral from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), an investigation was launched by Tarian - the regional organised crime team for southern Wales.
The investigation found that the 29-year-old was offering services to test applicants who had difficulty speaking English.
Kaur pleaded guilty at Swansea Crown Court yesterday (Thursday 7 July), and in a prepared statement, she said she charged £700 for theory tests and £800 for practical exams.
She was sentenced to eight months in prison, four of which she'll spend behind bars.
According to Wales Online, Judge Huw Rees said: "In my judgement this case has three strands. The first is the number of occasions you impersonated people between October 2019 and September 2020.
"Another is the extensive locations across Wales and England that you did this.
"And third is the many applicants you impersonated who had a poor grasp of English and had previously failed their driving tests.
"The result is that your offending means there are a large number of unqualified drivers on roads in this country. This is an undoubtedly serious and disturbing case."
Detective Chief Inspector Steven Maloney said Kaur's crimes were committed out of greed.
He said: "The crimes Kaur committed circumvent the driving test process and in turn puts innocent road users at risk, by allowing unskilled and dangerous motorists to have seemingly legitimate licences.
"Safety on our roads has always been a priority and arresting those that flaunt the law ensures that we can keep unqualified drivers off the road.
"By working with the DVSA, this complex criminal investigation highlighted the extent of Kaur's offending which was purely out of greed. Kaur's offending has now been halted, and she has now been brought to justice, and we today welcome the sentence imposed by the courts.
"Frauds such as these pose significant risks to the general public and I urge any members of the public with information on such crimes to report them to the police or even anonymously via crime stoppers."
Caroline Hicks, head of regulatory services and transformation at the DVSA, added: "DVSA's priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles.
"Driving and theory tests exist to help ensure people have the correct knowledge, skills and attitude to drive on our roads.
"Circumventing the tests puts lives in danger, we have methods in place to detect test fraud and will come down hard on the people involved. This includes cancelling test passes that have been gained fraudulently."
