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Something I’m asked at least a couple of times a year by people facing a speeding ticket is, “what if I get [my wife/friend/some bloke down the pub] to take the points for me?” Every time I tell them that I want no part of it; but it might work, they might get away with it and that if they are caught then they should expect to go straight to prison.

I realise I’m getting old now, but many people will remember Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce. She was a well-known economist who regularly appeared on TV, he was a cabinet minister in the Tory/Liberal coalition government. In 2003, Mr Huhne received a speeding ticket. Rather than take the penalty points, it was agreed that his wife, Vicky Pryce, would say that she had been driving. They got away with it, and life went on until around 2011 when their marriage broke down. In the wake of the marriage breakdown, Ms Pryce sought to ruin her husband’s career with the help of a woman called Constance Briscoe, a criminal defence barrister and Crown Court judge! The plan cooked up by the pair was for Ms Pryce to tell the press about Mr Huhne’s dodging of the speeding points back in 2003; however, they told the press that a third woman, Jo White who was an aide to Mr Huhne, had taken the points for him. Ms Briscoe subsequently lied to the police and altered a witness statement while trying to deny that she had altered it.

Why any competent barrister, much less a judge, would think any of that was a good idea is beyond me. Very predictably it led to all three being sent to prison for perverting the course of justice. Mr Huhne and Ms Pryce received 8 months imprisonment each. Ms Briscoe was gaoled for 16 months.

Despite that very high-profile case, people are still lying about who was driving to avoid penalty points and those lies become more sophisticated every year.

In R v Bostan, a case dealt with by the court of appeal at the end of last year, Mr Bostan lied to the police about who had been driving his car when it was seen speeding.

I strongly suspect that Mr Bostan employed what is known as a “NIP farm” to provide the false details of the drivers he nominated. These NIP farms will, for a fee, deal with the notice of intended prosecution (NIP) for you. They provide the police with false driver details, often using stolen information and identification.

These services are run by fraudsters – they are literally offering to commit fraud to get you off a speeding ticket – so you should expect that they will take advantage of you too!

People using NIP farms are routinely caught because a) the police notice when they get multiple admissions to driving from the same person/address; and b) these NIP farms are using real names and real addresses, which means that when the real people receive them they tend to tell the police they have been the victim of fraud. The police will then come back to the registered keeper asking for an explanation as to what is going on.

Mr Bostan’s case is interesting because he – like Huhne, Pryce and Briscoe – was charged with perverting the course of justice. The prosecution also added in fraud charges for good measure. Unlike the previous case, the Crown Court judge sentenced Mr Bostan to a suspended prison sentence. That was appealed by the prosecution as being unduly lenient. The court of appeal agreed that the sentence was too short and sent Mr Bostan to prison for a year.

So, we can reach a conclusion from these examples. Yes you can avoid penalty points by having somebody else say they were the driver, but if you get caught then you will go to prison.

If you are accused of a driving offence and are at risk of a totting up ban, then call us today. We can help you prepare legal arguments to avoid the driving ban. First, we’ll look at whether there are any defences available to you. We will also consider whether there is a special reason that will allow you to avoid the penalty points being imposed. Finally, we will help you build an exceptional hardship case that will keep you on the road even if you do accumulate 12 penalty points.

Call us today on 020 8242 4440 or send us a message via our contact page.