A MAN who lied to police after he was caught driving dangerously has been sentenced.

The incident occurred on 4 April last year, when Hassan Mahmood, 19, was captured on dash-cam driving on the wrong side of the road. 

After being made aware that the incident had been captured by the dash-cam, Mahmood, of Park Terrace, Halifax, contacted the police to report that his car and number plates had been cloned.

Following this incident, a Notice of Intended Prosecution (NIP) was posted to the defendant.

This was returned to police with a letter stating that he knew nothing about the offence, that he had reported to police that his plates had been cloned and that he was therefore unable to provide details of the driver at the time of the offence. 

Mahmood further stated that he could prove he was at home at the time, as his car had a black box fitted.

Mahmood was later arrested, and following an investigation, a GPS jamming device was found at his home address.

This was used to block the GPS signal of the black box fitted to his vehicle by his insurance company.

Mahmood was charged with Dangerous Driving and Perverting the Course of Justice and pleaded guilty at Bradford Crown Court on 15 February.

Today, Mahmood was given a 12-month sentenced, suspended for 18 months, and fined £156.

He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to take an extended test to receive his license back

Rachel Wainwright, of West Yorkshire Police’s Digital Submissions and Investigation Team, said: “Mahmood continually tried to lie and insist that he was not the person responsible for driving dangerously, but his lies very quickly caught up with him.

“Mahmood’s actions not only put his own life at risk, but also that of other law-abiding road users, and I hope he understands the seriousness of this. He tried to evade paying for his actions and had a total disregard for the law. 

“I hope this serves as a deterrent to anyone who thinks they can evade justice. West Yorkshire Police will not tolerate poor driving on our roads as well as attempts to avoid justice.”