A man who was caught with two fake Bulgarian driving licences after being stopped at a routine vehicle checkpoint has been handed a six month driving ban.
The 31-year-old’s solicitor told court: “This was a foolish and short sighted attempt to evade the road traffic rules. He would have been better putting his money and time into getting on to the road legitimately.”
Simeon Angelov Borisov, of Lisanally Lane in Armagh, had pleas of guilty entered on his behalf to six charges at the city’s Magistrates’, sitting at Newry.
The defendant admitted to two counts of possession a false identity document, no driving licence, using a vehicle without insurance, fraud by false representation and making a false declaration to obtain a certificate of insurance.
Prosecution outlined that at 5.30am on March 2, of last year, police conducting a vehicle checkpoint on the Moy Road in Armagh stopped Borisov, who was the driver of a Vauxhall Astra.
The defendant produced a Bulgarian driving licence, which officers believed to be a fake due to its “poor quality”.
Borisov was subsequently arrested, with checks with the insurance company showing that any policy would be invalid as a result of the fraudulent licence.
He was conveyed to Dungannon Custody Suite, and whilst here a search was conducted during which a second false Bulgarian licence was located in the defendant’s shoe.
When interviewed, Borisov said he had purchased the first licence from a friend of a friend in Armagh for £500 and the second for £1,300 from the same individual, after doubting the quality of the first.
The defendant admitted to having never sat a driving test but claimed that he had been informed that the documents were genuine.
However, when pressed on this issue Borisov later conceded to police that the licences were fakes.
Defence counsel Kevin O’Hare stated: “This was a foolish and short sighted attempt to evade the road traffic rules. He would have been better putting his money and time into getting on to the road legitimately.
“He is out of pocket and before the court not only on road traffic matters but also fraud offences.”
District Judge Eamonn King disqualified the defendant from driving for six months and ordered that he pay a fine of £450, along with the offender’s levy of £15, within eight weeks.
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