MOT technician receives prison sentence for faking brake test results

An Abertillery MOT tester has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison and ordered to pay £2128, according to DVSA Enforcement.

The MOT tester in question, whose sentence has been suspended for 12 months, was convicted after they issued four pass certificates over a number of years to a camper van that wouldn’t fit on testing equipment. In other words, the required MOT tests couldn’t have been carried out according to regulations.

News of the conviction promoted a variety of comments from readers on social media, which led to DVSA enforcement making the following reply:

“Testers are trusted to conduct MOTs on behalf of the Secretary of State and hold a huge amount of responsibility. The public trust vehicles are tested to the required standard once a year. Making up brake results and not utilising mandatory equipment means potential dangerous vehicles”.

The debate continued with some commenters drawing parallels with Northern Ireland:

“We have government test centres in Northern Ireland, the car goes in one end and out the other….no work is carried out so no unnecessary repairs get done and no dodgy favours for friends. The car either passes or fails..”

However, while news of convictions highlights the need for enforcement in the English system, the relatively recent problems with the centrally managed Northern Ireland system show that approach also has down sides.