West Yorkshire car parts trader caught driving scrapped Skoda on false number plates
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Pavel Scazny fitted the car with the fake plates to avoid being caught for driving while uninsured.
Scazny was arrested when police stopped him in the vehicle on Agbrigg Road, Wakefield.
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Hide AdLeeds Crown Court heard Scazny had been employed by A to Z Motor Spares in Dewsbury for around five years.
Bashir Ahmed, prosecuting, said Scazny's job involved selling spare car parts for the company.
The prosecutor said the defendant also had a "sideline" in purchasing cheap Skodas which he would repair and then sell in the Czech Republic.
The court heard Scazny bought a Skoda Octavia that had been scrapped in the Lincolnshire area on March 23 this year.
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Hide AdMr Ahmed said the vehicle was fitted with false plates to avoid insurance provisions.
The 33-year-old was seen driving around Wakefield in the vehicle later the same day.
Scazny told police in interview that he had asked his boss at the spare parts company to make up the number plates for him and they did.
Mr Ahmed said: "They obviously trusted him in his sideline."
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Hide AdScazny, of Newland Court, Agbrigg, Wakefield, pleaded guilty to driving without insurance but pleaded not guilty to a charge of fraudulent use of a registration mark.
He was found guilty of the offence after a trial before magistrates.
Scazny's barrister, Mohammed Raffiq, told the court: "He was badly advised by somebody to plead not guilty to this matter."
The court heard Scazny is a Czech national and had lived in the UK for five years with his partner and two young children.
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Hide AdMr Raffiq added: "Custody would have a severe consequence for his family as a whole."
Scazny was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
He was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Christopher Batty said: "This was carefully planned to avoid insuring a vehicle which you knew could not be insured.
"I take the view that it merits a prison sentence."