Driving instructor took test for friend

by Admin Sun Aug 17, 2008 9:15 pm

A driving instructor who took a test for a friend and passed has been jailed for six months. Joseph Hussein, aged 37, admitted taking the driving test in Wednesbury earlier this year.

He now faces being stripped of his instructors’ license and his £35,000-a-year job teaching learners to drive. Mr Kully Khaira, prosecuting at West Bromwich Magistrates Court, said that on January 29 Hussein attended Wednesbury driving test centre to take the driving test for his friend Abdirashid Dirye, whom he later claimed was out of the country.

He said the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) were already suspicious that someone, who was not Mr Dirye, was going to take the test as someone had previously attended the centre that didn’t fit the description of the photo on the provisional licence and failed.

The court heard Hussein passed the test and was then arrested. During interview he initially stated that he was Mr Dirye. However, in a second interview Hussein admitted his real identity and said he took the test as a favour for a friend who was out of the country.

Mr Khaira said Hussein, of Park Range in Manchester, had since handed his instructors licence back to the DSA, and it was likely he would now be stripped of his licence.

Gerard Brady, defending, said: “This offence is entirely out of character. Not only out of character for this man, but also for his family who have no previous convictions recorded against them.”

Deputy district judge Derek French, said: “The fact that you facilitated such an agreement is aggravated by the fact that you are employed as a driving instructor, therefore come into contact with people who are wishing to pass their test, and you were a potentially corrupting influence.”

Mr French yesterday sentenced Hussein to six months’ imprisonment and told him he would serve half.

Speaking after the sentencing, Paul Biggs, spokesman for the Association of British Drivers, said: “If you have passed your test for someone that’s not competent to drive it’s dangerous for other road users.”