Old post!
Another candidate for the 2014 Darwin Awards, I think. Ronald Murray, 34, was banned from driving for two years back in 2011 for dangerous driving. Then, in 2012, he changed his name to Paul Murray and took and passed a driving test.
He was stopped by police some time later – whatever it was he was stopped for was serious enough to warrant them taking fingerprints – and his previous identity confirmed. He continued to drive while on bail and then had a “minor” accident outside a school. His response to this was to drive off at speed on the wrong side of the road, and over a crossing (with red lights) which had people on it.
Remember also that by doing what he did, he was effectively driving uninsured through all of it, since his insurance would have become void the instant his true identity was verified. He was initially stopped because the BMW he was driving showed no insurance. In the school crash he was driving another BMW – his choice of car provides a lot of background to the type of person he is.
After being bailed a second time he attempted to make a fraudulent insurance claim using a forged no-claims document. It was later revealed that Murray has form going back to 1997, with offences involving deception, and seven involving driving while disqualified.
Murray – who has to be the current front runner in the Darwin Awards this year – pleaded guilty to:
- dangerous driving
- driving while disqualified (two charges)
- having no insurance (two charges)
- fraud (four charges)
- making an article for use in fraud
- possession of the drug Diazepam
Now – and wait for this… in spite of his lengthy record stretching back to when he was 17, and in spite of the absolute deluge of recent criminal acts on his part, his defence lawyer Katya Saudek said in mitigation:
This is a peculiar case. This is a man who, unlike many people who want to drive while disqualified, did not simply get into a car and drive.
He made efforts to get legal, but in doing so committed these offences.
Or in other words, he committed fraud to stay legal, which Saudek seems to believe should somehow be lauded. Remind me never to choose her as my defence.
Murray was jailed for three years and five months.