Man with genuine driving license sent to jail for four months...

[Gromit]

...and he was just a passenger in the vehicle.

Bungling cops wrongly thought his photo should have been in black and white but it was in colour. So he was arrested for having a fake licence. He was charged and was sent to Strangeways until the DVLA got around to confirming it was real, FOUR MONTHS later.

Meanwhile, they are letting murders and rapists out early because the prisons are over crowded. And what a terrible waste of money and resources, not to mention the compensation he will receive. And you can bet no one will be suspended or lose their job for such gross incompetence.

How much would you want for four months in jail, if you were mistakenly charged?

[Mattk]

Is this real? Surely they would have to prove that it was fake to send him down?

[HowardKennitby]

I think we need a link for this one.

[JackDanielsU]

he was on remand and denied bail as he was a flight risk

[jackthehat]

http://www.dailymail....-driving-licence.html

[RATTER15]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...d-manchester-17119164

[sunny-dave]

http://menmedia.co.uk...ving-licence-was-fake

[SlackAlice]

http://www.mirror.co....or-four-months-692275

[Mattk]

Truly unbelievable! What sort of justice system lets that happen?!

[Gromit]

// Mark Callaghan, Divisional Crown Prosecutor, said: “A decision was made to charge the defendant with possession of a false identity document with improper intent on the EVIDENCE AVAILABLE at that time.” //

But there was no evidence. It was a proper licence.

[joko]

ive never heard any rule of photos being black and white...why would he think that? or was it just a daft excuse to cause the man a bit of hassle...that went way too far...

[sandyRoe]

And remanded in custody because he was considered a 'flight risk'. As he was here claiming asylum where did they think he would run to?

[EDDIE51]

Are driving licence photos black and white ? I have only ever seen colour ones .

[vulcan]

The latest licence has a black & white photograph, mine was renewed two weeks ago.

[EDDIE51]

The Photo booth in Tesco still says 'suitable for Driving licences / Passports/ Photo ID, and that is in colour. Surely a black and white photo is easier to alter and less 'individual' than a colour one? What is the reasoning behind it ?

[ABerrant]

"Security features

The photocard driving licence and paper counterpart contain a number of enhanced security features that weren’t available on the older versions. One of the main differences between the two is the current photocard has a black and white photo while the older version a colour one."

http://www.direct.gov...erLicensing/DG_068315

The switch from colour to B&W photos was around 2007.

[vulcan]

No idea EDDIE, I used a booth for my photograph and it was in colour. Never thought any more about it until the new licence arrived and I noticed it was Black & white.

[ABerrant]

"What is the reasoning behind it ?"

A colour photograph will still need to be provided with your application to be stored on your driver record, however the laser technology used to burn the image onto the card produces a black and white image and is more secure.

[sandyRoe]

It says here that the photo you send them must be in colour.

http://www.direct.gov...atedLicence/DG_078281

[EDDIE51]

ABerrant that explains my question. You send in a colour photo and it is scanned as a black and white image on the licence. You learn something new every day !

[vulcan]

Ain't modern technology wonderful ? It still hasn't improved my looks though.