Driver faked death to avoid fines
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/lancashire/7200134.stm Version 0 of 1. Road safety experts have condemned a driver who faked his own death to avoid paying £180 in speeding fines. Shafkat Munir, 26, from Blackburn, Lancashire, produced a false death certificate to the authorities after speed cameras snapped him three times. He admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed last week for 12 months, and banned from driving. John Davies, of Lancashire's Road Safety Partnership, said Munir's con was "almost unbelievable". "Munir's licence was clean before this spate of incidents and he would have still been able to drive - I have never known anyone go to such lengths," Mr Davies added. "Excess speed is at least partly to blame for one in three deaths on Lancashire's roads and speed limits are in place to protect us." Certificate inaccuracies Munir was first caught speeding in January last year on the M55 in Lancashire by doing 66mph on a 50mph stretch. Then he was snapped by a camera doing 36 mph in a 30mph zone on Preston New Road in Blackpool. The third time was in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, when he was doing 41mph in a 30mph zone. A man claiming to be called Rashid Hussain contacted the parking office, claiming that Munir had died in Pakistan in 2002. A death certificate in Urdu was sent in, but inaccuracies were found. Guilty plea When police called a number given by Rashid Hussain, the recipient confirmed he was, in fact Munir. He admitted fabricating the story to avoid paying the fines. At Preston Crown Court Munir admitted three counts of perverting the course of justice and was given three 12-month prison sentences, to run concurrently. He was banned from driving for 18 months. Mr Davies added: "All credit to investigating officers across the forces for their determination to bring this man to face justice. "Those caught speeding will be prosecuted and may well trigger investigations into previous offences if the slightest suspicion is raised." |