Driving test cheat back in prison

Gageen Preet Singh, 35, used wigs and false moustaches to disguise himself during theory and practical driving tests.

Investigators said the Indian national charged people desperate for driving licences around 600 to sit a theory exam and 3,000 for a practical test.

When he was arrested almost 52,000 in cash was seized, believed to be just a small part of what he earned from his crimes.

He is understood to have operated principally in Indian communities throughout the South East, London, the Midlands, the North East and East Anglia.

It marked the second time Singh had been brought to justice for driving test fraud.

He was sentenced to eight months in jail after being caught red-handed taking a test in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, in October last year.

But following his release in February this year, he re-started his illegal operation.

Four months later he was arrested again and he pleaded guilty at Reigate Magistrates' Court in Surrey to 15 offences of fraud by impersonating test candidates and of driving while disqualified.

Before he was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court yesterday, he also asked for 156 further offences to be taken into consideration, Sussex Police said.

Singh, of no fixed address, received a 12-month prison sentence for the fraud offences and a two-month jail term to run consecutively for the driving while disqualified offences.

He was also disqualified for two years and a deportation order was served on him after he completes his sentence.

Singh was investigated by the Regional Asset Recovery Team, part of the newly-formed South East Organised Crime Directorate, working with Driving Standards Agency investigators.

Detective Sergeant Dennis Phelan, of the South East Serious Organised Crime Directorate, said: "This type of crime has grown in recent years.

"Not only does it put the public at risk with unskilled and dangerous drivers using the road, but it provides false driving licences which can help create false identities."