A DRIVER who thought he would be banned after triggering a speed camera falsely claimed his number plate had been stolen.

But Mohammed Hussain, who was sentenced for perverting the course of justice at Oxford Crown Court yesterday, need not have worried – if he had simply accepted the penalty points he would not have been disqualified.

The 25-year-old, of Banbury Court, Abingdon, was caught travelling at 35mph in the 30mph Woodstock Road, North Oxford, at 3.14am on April 6.

He had eight points on his licence and would have received three more, keeping him under the 12-point ‘totting up’ threshold.

Prosecutor Paul Harrison said Hussain told police at 9.15am that morning his rear number plate had been stolen, implying someone else had driven through the speed camera.

But an automatic number plate recogonition camera (ANPR) picked up Hussain’s BMW and its front number plate travelling along the same road just a minute before the offence.

Hussain, a delivery driver who has seven previous convictions, admitted perverting the course of justice and speeding.

He was given a two-month jail term, suspended for a year, with a six-month drug-rehabilitation requirement. He was also given three penalty points.