(Image: West Yorkshire Police)
A Bradford man and woman have been jailed for framing an innocent driver to avoid speeding convictions.
Asad Ashraf, 48, and Jayna Mistry, 50, both from Bradford, were sentenced at Bradford Crown Court on Friday after admitting two counts of perverting the course of public justice.
The scheme came to light when West Yorkshire Police investigated after the innocent driver received a court letter demanding £706 in fines and costs for the speeding offences.
The incidents involved a white Audi Q7 caught by speed cameras on Cottingley Cliffe Road and Toller Lane in Bradford in January and September 2023.
Rachel Wainwright from West Yorkshire Police’s Digital Submissions and Investigations team said: "Not only did Ashraf and Mistry attempt to dodge accountability for their actions, but they caused a significant amount of stress and anxiety to a completely innocent motorist who had nothing to do with this matter.
"Their dishonest actions have also escalated the seriousness of the incident from speeding offences, which may possibly have been dealt with out of court, to having to appear before a crown court judge.
"I hope today’s sentencing serves as a message that we do investigate this kind of suspicious activity and we do take action."
Further investigation revealed the innocent man had also been given five penalty points on his driving licence.
Police traced the Audi to an insurance policy held by a company whose directors were Ashraf and Mistry.
The notices were sent to Mistry, who returned them falsely naming the innocent man as the driver and giving an address linked to Ashraf.
Further guilty pleas for the speeding offences were submitted in the man’s name.
Investigators established that the man had nothing to do with the offences and had been deliberately named to obstruct justice.
Ashraf, of Westfield Close, was jailed for three years and four months.
Mistry, of Pintail Avenue, was jailed for three years and six months.
Investigators also discovered that the victim had previously shown his driving licence at a Bradford mobile phone shop as proof of identity.
Ashraf was a director of the company that ran the shop.