The recent case of R v Walker confirmed the court’s stance on driving offenders who pervert the course of justice by asking others to take their penalty points. In this case Mr Walker had committed a speeding offence. He named his 71 year old mother as the driver at the time with her consent. He received a 6 month prison sentence which was reduced to 3 months on appeal due to the fact he voluntarily admitted to the offence. The judge commented that prison should be expected in almost all such cases.
In R v Henderson and Metcalfe (2011) the judge said that such offences ‘strike at the heart of the criminal justice system and that points are to protect the public from bad drivers’. It should be noted that in addition to a likely prison sentence the court can impose a disqualification under s146 Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 for any offence as long as their is sufficient reason and often will impose a disqualification for offences of this nature.
