Suspended jail sentence for man who tried to avoid speeding fine

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence after he tried to avoid paying an Essex speed camera fine by claiming his grandmother had been driving.

But police investigations established that she lived in Sierra Leone, had never been to Britain and could not drive.

Dillon Coker, 26, later admitted that he had supplied false information to police and confirmed that he had been driving a VW Polo caught on camera travelling at 51mph in a 40mph stretch of the A127 near Laindon shortly after 3am on January 6.

He admitted a charge of perverting the course of justice when he appeared at Basildon Crown Court on Tuesday, November 19.

Coker, of Central Park Avenue, Dagenham, was given a six month jail sentence suspended for 12 months, told to carry out 100 hours of work in the community and ordered to pay £500 in costs and victim surcharge.