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University graduate jailed for lying about speeding fine

A university graduate from Dudley has been jailed for three months for perverting the course of justice by lying to police over a speeding fine.

Ayesha Ahmed Credit: West Midlands Police

Ayesha Ahmed, from Baptist End Road in Netherton has also been banned from driving for 58 weeks.

She was caught speeding in her BMW twice inside five minutes by the same mobile camera parked near her home in St Peter’s Road.

Rather than accept a driver awareness course, a fine and a three-point endorsement she paid £450 to a man who claimed he could exploit a “legal loophole" that would enable her to escape punishment.

Both Notices of Intended Prosecution (NIPs) sent to Ahmed were returned suggesting a Ms Nosheen Yoqum, from Forrester Street in Walsall, was behind the wheel at the time of the offences.

Enquiries revealed eight other speeding offences had been attributed to drivers living at the same Forrester Street address, but there was no record of them ever being tenants and checks with DVLA also drew a blank.

In a police interview Ahmed, who graduated with a 2:1 in International Relations & Politics, admitted trying to dodge the penalty points but insisted she thought the £450 was being paid to a specialist speeding fine lawyer.

She maintained her innocence through a two-day trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court but on Monday was jailed for three months after a jury unanimously found her guilty of trying to pervert the course of justice.

Ahmed has paid a heavy price for thinking she could lie her way out of speeding offences. We examined footage of the offences and it’s clear she was not being followed.

The jury concluded she was deliberately trying to avoid justice and not, as she claimed, victim of a scam by a bogus lawyer.

She never met this ‘legal expert’, didn’t have an address or phone number for him, and paid the money via a third party.

Don’t be conned by anyone saying they know a person who, for a fee, can ‘make speeding fines go away’. These people try passing blame onto phantom drivers knowing the authorities won’t be able to trace them and assuming the matter will be dropped.

– PC Steve Jevons from the Camera Enforcement Unit

Ahmed was clocked driving at 39 and 40mph in the St Peter’s Road 30 zone just after midday on 30 July 2014.