Suspended jail term for fake CCTV driver

A delivery driver who tried to dodge a speeding conviction by faking home CCTV footage to support an alibi has walked free from court.

Roger Moore, 44, was clocked driving at 51mph through a 40mph zone in Plymouth, Devon, in February 2011.

He would have faced a £60 fine and three penalty points if convicted, but instead blamed staff at a nearby garage for driving the vehicle – a Peugeot, on hire while Moore's Mitsubishi was undergoing repair – saying they had a vendetta against him.

Moore then faked the date stamp on his home CCTV camera, which at first supported his claim that he was not driving through Plymouth at the time of the speeding offence. But sharp-eyed police experts noticed the shadows in Moore's driveway on the submitted CCTV were too long for the time of year. They also found a log which suggested the date stamp had been altered.

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Judge Paul Darlow said Moore "went to extraordinary lengths" to prove his innocence. He jailed the father of three for 16 weeks, suspended for two years.

He also told him to pay £2,000 costs, saying Moore could sell his private number plate to help finance the payment.

Prosecuting, David Gittins said that, upon being investigated by police nearly two years ago, Moore said: ''I'm an honest person. If I did it, I would pay."

Mr Gittins said police experts spent time analysing CCTV footage from Moore's home, submitted by the defendant at court, which was used as part of his defence for the speeding charge.

Moore, of Stentaway Road in Plymouth, said his son had stumbled across the footage when looking through old DVDs. But experts found inconsistencies.

Mr Gittins told Plymouth Crown Court the shadows on Moore's footage were far too long to be February, suggesting the CCTV was from later in the year.

Defence counsel Ali Rafati said Moore was the sole earner in his family, taking home £325 a week.

He said Moore, who pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice a few days before he was due to stand trial, was a family man of no previous convictions.

He said: "He got himself in an act which snowballed out of control. He simply couldn't face up to that so he buried his head in the sand and let the months roll by."

Judge Darlow said Moore was "happy to allege against others" instead of facing up to his crime.

He told Moore he could thank Mr Rafati for arguing in favour of a suspended sentence and costs.

Having earlier heard of Moore's financial means, the judge said: "You can always start by selling the private number plate on your (Mitsubishi)."