Driver Fakes Own Death to Avoid Speeding Fines
Road safety experts have condemned a driver who faked his own death to avoid paying £180 in speeding fines.
Shafkat Munir, 26, from Blackburn, Lancashire, produced a false death certificate to the authorities after speed cameras snapped him three times.
He admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed last week for 12 months, and banned from driving.
John Davies, of Lancashire's Road Safety Partnership, said Munir's con was "almost unbelievable".
"Munir's licence was clean before this spate of incidents and he would have still been able to drive - I have never known anyone go to such lengths," Mr Davies added.
"Excess speed is at least partly to blame for one in three deaths on Lancashire's roads and speed limits are in place to protect us."
Certificate inaccuracies
Munir was first caught speeding in January last year on the M55 in Lancashire by doing 66mph on a 50mph stretch.
Then he was snapped by a camera doing 36 mph in a 30mph zone on Preston New Road in Blackpool.
The third time was in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, when he was doing 41mph in a 30mph zone.
A man claiming to be called Rashid Hussain contacted the parking office, claiming that Munir had died in Pakistan in 2002.
A death certificate in Urdu was sent in, but inaccuracies were found.
Guilty plea
When police called a number given by Rashid Hussain, the recipient confirmed he was, in fact Munir. He admitted fabricating the story to avoid paying the fines.
At Preston Crown Court Munir admitted three counts of perverting the course of justice and was given three 12-month prison sentences, to run concurrently. He was banned from driving for 18 months.
Mr Davies added: "All credit to investigating officers across the forces for their determination to bring this man to face justice.
"Those caught speeding will be prosecuted and may well trigger investigations into previous offences if the slightest suspicion is raised."
Man fakes own death to avoid speeding fine
21/ 1/2008
A Blackburn man will serve a year in prison for faking his own death to ‘get away with’ three speeding offences committed within a few weeks of each other.
Shafkat Munir, aged 26 of Mulberry Walk, Blackburn appeared in Preston Crown Court where he pleaded guilty to three charges of perverting the course of justice.
He was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for each offence, to be served concurrently, and also disqualified from driving for 18 months.
Munir, a waiter working in Manchester, was the driver of a motor vehicle caught speeding on three occasions between January and February 2007.
The first offence took place on the M55 motorway in Lancashire on 23 January 2007 at a speed of 66mph in a temporary 50mph limit. The second, a short time later, on Preston New Road in Blackpool at a speed of 36mph in a 30mph limit. The third took place in Rotherham, South Yorkshire at a speed of 41 mph in a 30 mph limit. A clear facial image of the driver was recorded in this offence which, when compared to DVLA records, was identical to Munir.
Initially Munir contacted the police to argue with the speed records for the offences, but he was told they were correct. Following this, a male calling himself Rashid Hussain contacted the relevant ticket office stating that Shafkat Munir had died whilst in Pakistan in 2002.
Mr Hussain claimed that he was acting on behalf of the Munir family as a friend, because they had been upset by the letters about the offences.
Enquiry officer at the Central Process Unit, PC Mark Pilkington took up the case for further investigation.
Correspondence was sent to the Central Process Unit allegedly from a Rashid Hussain, which again stated that Munir was deceased. Hussain was then asked to produce evidence of the death, who subsequently forwarded a death certificate written in Urdu. When translated, this confirmed that Munir had died in Pakistan in 2002, however it also revealed that there were several errors on the death certificate.
The male calling himself Rashid Hussain was again contacted and confirmed that Munir was deceased. Further police enquiries confirmed that Shafkat Munir was in fact alive and well and living at the Mulberry Walk address. This was confirmed when police telephoned the mobile telephone number given by Rashid Hussain and asked to speak with Shafkat Munir. The recipient of the call confirmed that he was in fact Shafkat Munir. Several days later Police then called the number again and asked to speak with Rashid Hussain, the recipient confirmed that he was Rashid Hussain and when questioned stated that Munir was a friend and that he was dead.
‘Hussain’ was then arrested and admitted that he was in fact called Shafkat Munir, and that he had fabricated the whole story in order to evade prosecution for the speeding offences. He stated that he had the death certificate made by a friend in order to confirm his story to police and Rashid Hussain was a made up name.
Said John Davies, Project manager, Lancashire Partnership for Road Safety: "Pretending to be dead to avoid paying speeding fines amounting to £180 is almost unbelievable! Munir’s licence was clean before this spate of incidents and he would have still been able to drive - I have never known anyone go to such lengths.
"All credit to investigating officers across the forces for their determination to bring this man to face justice. Excess speed is at least partly to blame for one in three deaths on Lancashire’s roads and speed limits are in place to protect us. Those caught speeding will be prosecuted and may well trigger investigations into previous offences if the slightest suspicion is raised."
Driver Faked Death to Avoid Fines
Monday, 21 January 2008
