An MOT tester and mechanic have been ordered to do up to 300 hours of unpaid work and face prison if they reoffend after passing 223 vehicles they never tested.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) successfully prosecuted Owain Shaw, an MOT tester, and Jamie Lee, a mechanic, for dangerous MOT fraud. They were sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on January 29.

A system at Staple Hill Motoring Centre in Bristol had been set up by the pair to avoid carrying out MOTs on vehicles. 

Lee would send Shaw vehicle registration numbers. Shaw would then issue pass certificates without ever seeing the vehicles. 

Called ‘ghost’ MOT testing, it gets this name because the vehicles being ‘tested’ are not actually there.

Shaw received a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and 300 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to 44 separate offences - a further 199 offences were also taken into consideration by the judge 

Lee also received a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years and 250 hours of unpaid work after being found guilty of helping to run the fraudulent operation 

DVSA is widening the trial to more MOT centres before looking to roll out across all garages.

Testers will need to physically see the vehicle in their MOT centre and photograph it before any certificate can be issued. 

Further information:

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/suspended-sentences-for-mot-fraudsters