A suspended prison sentence has been given to a South Wales vehicle technician who issued MOT pass certificates for vehicles he hadn't fully tested.

After being caught out by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), MOT tester Muhammad Irfan pleaded guilty to 12 charges of fraud at Newport Magistrates Court and was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months, ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work, and handed a fine of £1,154.

He was working at Newport Transport Limited at the time of the offences, in late 2022, and had issued pass certificates, mainly to taxis, despite not completing a full MOT examination that would show they were safe to operate.

The court decided to suspend the jail sentence after hearing he had previously good character, was remorseful and had family circumstances.

The DVSA said: “Allowing vehicles (mainly taxis) an MOT when they had not been appropriately tested, posed an enormous safety risk to the public.

Because Irfan, 38, of Castle Street, Newport, had not carried out a full examination of the vehicles this meant that he had missed vital parts of the mandatory annual safety checks.

The DVSA has banned him from MOT testing for five years and he would need to reapply if he wants to restart as tester in the future.

“It really isn’t worth it to issue fake MOTs. You could lose your job if you do. DVSA can and does take this kind of behaviour very seriously and will take action," said a DVSA spokesman.

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