Banned driver jailed after being found with falsified insurance documents

A disqualified driver has been jailed after he was stopped again.

Mitchell Wilton had been disqualified from driving in court on January 13 2022.

Then on June 13 that year Roads Policing Unit (RPU) officers found  Wilton behind the wheel of a Citroen Relay van on the A27 in Upper Brighton Road on June 13, 2022.

He was stopped because his vehicle showed him having no insurance, no valid MOT test, and Wilton was already disqualified.

At Worthing Magistrates’ Court on October 31, 2023, Wilton admitted two counts of making a false statement to obtain insurance.

On that occasion he was sentenced to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.

Officers later found the same vehicle abandoned in Bognor on January 21, 2023.

It was later found that Wilton, aged 32, had falsified insurance documents to carry on driving, despite being stopped. RPU officers noted the vehicle did not have a registered MOT test certificate since November 2021, and that Wilton’s licence was expired.

Wilton was charged with driving while disqualified, driving without valid insurance, and driving without a valid MOT test, and admitted these charges in court on June 7.

Checks showed there were two falsified insurance policies obtained by Wilton on June 13, 2022, before his first arrest, and again on July 14, 2022.

Wilton had obtained insurance without disclosing his criminal convictions and that he was in fact disqualified. Speaking after the case PC Tom Van Der Wee said: “Disqualified and uninsured drivers pose a risk to all lawful road users, helping to drive up insurance premiums.

“Wilton showed no care for court orders despite already being disqualified, and later failed to disclose this to an insurance company to take out two false policies.

“We are pleased that a potential danger to other road users has both been taken off our roads and now off our streets.”

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on June 7, it was noted that he had shown a “flagrant disregard” for court orders.

Wilton, of Wickhurst Road, Portslade, was jailed for four months. He was ordered to pay £400 court costs and was disqualified for 20 months.