A teenager was convicted for failing to insure a surprise car before she was even gifted it for her 18th birthday.
The Fiat was given to the teen, from Dorset, by her family who did not arrange for it to be insured straight away.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) charged her with keeping an uninsured vehicle and brought a criminal prosecution over the unpaid vehicle.
She explained in a letter to Ipswich magistrates court that she had never driven the vehicle and does not have a licence.
The teenager was convicted under the Single Justice Procedure (SJP), a system established in 2015 for magistrates to handle minor offences without defendants appearing in court.
According to The Standard, her letter to court read: “My family got the car for me as my 18th birthday present.
“I was still 17 at the time of the offence and had not actually been given the keys to the car and was not aware that it would be mine.”
She said the family had previously obtained a tax refund by registering the 17-year-old vehicle as off-road through a Statutory Off Road Notification and was unaware she could have settled the matter by paying a fine to avoid a criminal case.
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The teenager told the court she didn’t have a driving licence upon being gifted the car
In the letter, the waitress went on to explain her dad – who receives benefits for his mental health – was willing to pay the fine.
She pleaded guilty to the offence and was given a 12-month conditional discharge, as well as being told to pay a £20 court fee, The Standard reports.
In another case dealt with through the SJP system, a man was convicted for not having car tax while he was trapped in war-torn Ukraine.
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Marchel Kalynku was taken to court by the DVLA for not having car tax while he was stuck in Ukraine
Marchel Kalynku, 38, received a criminal conviction despite explaining to authorities that he couldn’t leave Ukraine due to the ongoing war.
Kalynku, who is normally a resident of Basildon in Essex, was taken to court by the DVLA after his car tax expired.
In his letter of mitigation to the court, Kalynku wrote: “The offence happened because I’m in Ukraine for the last 20 months and I can’t get out due to War in my country.”
He submitted his guilty plea online on February 13 this year, resulting in him having a criminal conviction on his record, as well as having to pay £189.17 in unpaid car tax.
