A DRIVER has been jailed for trying to avoid a speeding fine by using a piece of chewing gum to stick his number plate on a different vehicle.

Dean Pearson, 51, was captured on a police camera driving a Mercedes Sprinter van at 70mph on the A64 Malton by-pass on Saturday, August 13 last year.

The classification of the vehicle meant he was driving at 10mph over the limit.

After Pearson, from Newbold in Derbyshire, received a speeding notification from North Yorkshire Police, he alleged his van had been converted to a motorhome and was therefore able to travel at 70mph.

He challenged the offence by sending photographs through to the Traffic Bureau team, as evidence of the vehicle’s conversion.

On inspection of the pictures, the eagle eyed officer at North Yorkshire Police spotted a few inconsistencies between the images of the vehicle Pearson was captured speeding in and the images of the vehicle he had submitted as evidence.

The livery markings from the bonnet and side of the van had seemed to completely disappear, the grille of the van was a different colour and most significantly, the number plate of the speeding van seemed to be stuck over another number plate.

When an officer visited Pearson as his home address in Derbyshire and challenged him over the pictures, he admitted that he had stuck his number plate over another vehicles registration plate using a piece of chewing gum.

He also admitted to visiting a local motorhome dealer and taking pictures of the interior of a similar vehicle - alleging that it was the inside of his vehicle.

He appeared at York Crown Court on Friday, January 20, charged with perverting the course of justice and the original speeding offence and received a 28-day prison sentence.

Speaking about the case, the investigating officer Traffic Constable Andy Forth said: “Pearson went to great lengths to mislead North Yorkshire Police.

"As a result of his actions, he has ended up with a much harsher penalty than if he had admitted the original speeding offence. Pearson believed he was above the law and that he could lie his way out of any consequence of his actions.”

“North Yorkshire Police Traffic Bureau take the matter of road safety very seriously.

"The roads that the mobile safety camera vehicles are deployed to are locations that we know through intelligence and data, have experienced a high number of collisions – some of them fatal. This is why we investigate any challenge or appeal to an offence thoroughly.

"If an individual chooses to travel in excess of the speed limit and then tries to evade the penalty by deceiving the police, we will ensure that we do everything in our power to bring this person to justice.”