Shock number of fake licences used in UK

Two drivers convicted in Dundee of using bogus documents

Soaring numbers of people are being caught driving the streets of the UK on bogus driving licences, according to shock new figures revealed yesterday, with convictions already recorded in Dundee.

Two men were sentenced in Dundee Sheriff Court last month for having fake licences, claiming to be genuine documents issued in Latvia.

More than 3,000 phony licences have been discovered by DVLA in the last five years, with more than 900 of those being found last year alone.

Document examiners at DVLA in Swansea are called in to investigate photocard licences either submitted as part of an application or received by police when drivers are accused of flouting road laws.

The number of fake licences found had remained broadly static between 2012 – when 643 were found – and 2015, when 693 fake licences were identified.

However, in 2016 that number rose sharply, with 901 fake licences identified by DVLA.

Some of these cases have involved people driving on the streets of the UK for extended periods without ever having passed a test.

Two men were last month sentenced at Dundee Sheriff Court after being caught with fake licences.

Muhammad Raza was caught by DVLA after sending in his fake licence – which claimed to be a genuine document issued in Latvia – in a bid to have it converted to a full UK licence.

The 60-year-old, of Dundee, was sentenced to 110 hours’ unpaid work on a community payback order after admitting a charge under the Identity Documents Act.

Ivo Sokolovics was caught after sending his phony licence – also purporting to be a real Latvian licence – to a court after he was caught speeding.

The factory worker had been handed a £100 fine and three penalty points for a speeding offence on the A90 between Aberdeen and Dundee.

He tried to pass the licence off as real but a clerk at Glasgow Sheriff Court, which processes fines from across Scotland, noted a discrepancy.

A photocopy of the card was sent to DVLA where a document examiner realised it was fake.

Sokolovics was then pulled over in Forfar in November – and again tried to pass off the licence as real to police.

Sokolovics, 29, of Taranty Road, Forfar, pleaded guilty on indictment to two charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice and one under the Identity Documents Act 2010, all committed between February 21 and November 24 2015.

He was placed on a restriction of liberty order confining him to his home from 7pm til 7am every day for four months on an electronic tag.

Luke Bosdet, spokesman for the AA, said: “Foreign and UK motorists driving with false licences have been a menace for quite some time.”

Foreign and UK motorists driving with false licences have been a menace for quite some time. AA SPOKESMAN LUKE BOSDET

Ivo Sokolovics was caught after sending his fake licence to a court after he was caught speeding.