A motorist was jailed yesterday (Wednesday) for three months after trying to dodge getting penalty points on his driving licence when he was caught speeding.
Paul Lilley claimed his Jaguar car was being driven by another man when it was clocked by a speed camera travelling at 88 mph in a 70 limit on the A1 at Great Ponton near Grantham.
Georgina Gibbs, prosecuting, told Lincoln Crown Court that when Lilley was asked by police to name the driver he claimed a man called Phil Stephens, who lived in Leeds, was behind the wheel. He said Mr Stephens was test driving the car with a view to buying it. But when police checked out the address given for Mr Stephens they discovered it was a boarded up building.
Lilley continued to deny that he was driving and was eventually charged with perverting the course of justice between December 2011 and March 2012.
Lilley, 55, of Pool Bank Close, Pool-in-Wharfedale, admitted the charge when he appeared in court today and also admitted speeding on 12 December 2011.
The court heard he had a clean driving licence at the time he was caught by the camera and would have only received a small fine and three penalty points on his licence.
His barrister Georgina Coade urged that Lilley be given a suspended jail sentence rather than immediate custody.
But Judge Sean Morris told Lilley: “This smacks of arrogance. You thought you were above the law and that people like you did not need to follow the laws everybody else has to follow.
“You set about a long and determined course of conduct to pervert the course of justice. It has to be an immediate prison sentence.”
The judge imposed three penalty points on Lilley’s licence.