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Learner driver avoids jail after cheating on 19th theory test

A learner driver who resorted to cheating to pass his theory test was spared a jail sentence, it has been reported. 26-year-old Ali Mohammed from Birmingham was attempting to cheat on his 19th theory test – yes, he failed it 18 times previously – but was spotted by an eagle-eyed staff member at the Driving Standards Association who noticed the person trying to take the test didn’t match the picture on the provisional licence.

This marks the second time the dad of one had attempted to use a double who, presumably, has a firmer grasp of UK road laws. He was rumbled back in 2007 for the same crime at a test centre in Stoke.

Mohammed pleaded guilty to fraud and was given a nine-month prison term suspended for two years, 200 hours of community service and told to pay £560 in costs.

“He has tried again and again to get his licence legitimately,” Barrister Nigel Stelling, defending, said. “He is a family man with commitments to a partner and a child. He has resolved to sort his life out.”

“It is with hesitation I do not send you (to prison),” Recorder Edward Coke was reported as saying by the Manchester Evening Times. “It is very serious because a full driving licence is a valuable document.”

“Without the theory, members of the public could be maimed or killed because of an ignorance of the theory of driving,” he added.

Passing the theory test is mandatory before a driver can progress to the practical test. It’s split into two sections, the first involves multiple-choice questions and the second requires a mouse to be pressed when a examinee sees what he or she deems a potential hazard on a monitor.

If you’re reading this Mr Mohammed, you’re probably better off spending a few quid on a theory test training disc. Or perhaps accept that, with respect, road laws are anything but your forté?

Source: Manchester Evening Times

Image: Flickr

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