A SPEEDING driver who persistently lied to the police in a determined bid to dodge points and a fine has been jailed for a total of 21 months.

Mohammed Saleem put his wife ‘in the frame’ for the offence and then invented ‘Vicky’ a fictitious woman car valeter, Bradford Crown Court heard today.

Saleem, 37, of Simpson Street, Keighley, was clocked speeding in a BMW in Bradford, prosecutor Philip Adams said.

He maintained his lies and deceit between September 6 last year and December 14, repeatedly telling a police officer at Dudley Hill Police Centre that he wasn’t driving.

He denied any wrongdoing at the magistrates’ court but went on to plead guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by providing a false nomination on a Notice of Intended Prosecution.

Saleem had previous convictions that included attempting to defeat the ends of justice (an offence under Scottish law) and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

He was in breach of a suspended sentence order imposed in September, 2020, for possession with intent to supply cannabis.

Saleem’s barrister, Andrew Dallas, said he had three children and cared for his mother who was in poor health.

He claimed to have paid someone £300 for information on how to dodge the speeding conviction.

Mr Dallas said the ruse was unlikely to have succeeded. ‘Vicky’ and her driving licence didn’t exist and he gave an address for her that he was connected with.

“It was amateurish but aggravated by the element of persistence," he said.

“He felt he was in a hole and he kept digging. He talked and he talked and he hoped it would go away but he only made it worse for himself.”

Saleem was shocked when he realised the seriousness of what he had done and ‘panic set in.’ His family would struggle if he was sent to prison.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Saleem had involved his wife, who doesn’t speak good English.

The BMW he was speeding in was registered in her name and he persuaded her to enable forms to be filled in using a fictitious name. “You put her as it were in the frame,” the judge said.

Then he persisted with the lie that the non-existent the woman had been at the wheel.

Saleem was jailed for 12 months with nine months of the suspended sentence activated consecutively.

He was banned from driving for 22 months.