Devious driver who made fake film to fool police is jailed
A devious driver who produced a fake film in a bogus bid to 'prove' he was innocent of a motoring offence was behind bars today - after police spotted tell-tale signs in the footage that proved it couldn't have been shot when he said it was.
Michael Masih was spotted by police doing a wheelie and travelling fast on a quad bike, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
But rather than admit his guilt the 34-year-old filmed himself flawlessly making the same journey along Stourbridge Road, Halesowen, up to three months after the offence on August 10 last year.
Masih then presented the footage to Dudley Magistrates in an attempt to dodge a conviction for driving without due care and attention - but merely put them in the picture about the truth.
Tell-tale blunders in the film proved it had been shot between September 24 and November 14, the court was told yesterday.
Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, explained a new car seen in the footage had not even been sold on the day in question and a coach also spotted on the footage had never left its owner's yard on the day the offence was committed.
A clock outside an office gave a different time to that logged in the police report of the incident and an advertising hoarding displaying fireworks for sale was banned by law from being shown at the time of the offence.
The prosecutor concluded: "It is our case that having been stopped the defendant went out to deliberately fabricate the footage."
He alleged the front wheels of the quad bike were up to three feet off the ground during the wheelie and Masih then told police: "I didn't mean to do it. It scared me to death."
Mr William Dudley defending said, "This offence was an act of stupidity rather than malicious dishonesty. He simply did not comprehend the seriousness of what he was doing."
Masih, of Stag Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, admitted perverting the course of justice and he was jailed for nine months with a 12 month driving ban.
Judge Michael Dudley concluded: "You turned a minor traffic offence into a serious crime. You were stopped for careless driving which is a relatively minor motoring offence but because you wanted to deny
the charge you prepared a DVD of the route you followed omitting all the acts of carelessness.
"Unfortunately for you the police officer watched the film and quickly realised it could not have been filmed on the same occasion. This was a serious, determined attempt to pervert the course of justice."
