By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A 28-year-old man who was caught driving a car with a fraudulent inspection disc was yesterday ordered to complete 50 hours of community service.
Phillip Dawkins was arrested after police found a fake Road Traffic Department disc attached to his vehicle on April 20.
He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a forged document when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.
During the hearing, he told the magistrate that he had recently bought the car and had no prior knowledge of the disc being fraudulent before he purchased it. He also stated that he only had the vehicle for two months and asked the magistrate to be lenient as he was not aware he was in violation of the road regulations before he was stopped by officers.
In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt told Dawkins the simple offence could have caused him to get a criminal record. She insisted that he had to do due diligence to make sure he knew the individual from whom he had bought the car.
As a result, she granted him a conditional discharge on the agreement he would complete 50 hours of community service at a place that would be determined by the Department of Welfare and Rehabilitative Services. Dawkins was also ordered to regularise the inspection disc on his vehicle.
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