The Peterborough Evening Telegraph reports that Ewa Petelska, 46, failed her Part 3 exam in November 2009, but she gave paid-for lessons to four Polish pupils over the subsequent five months. She was found guilty of giving paid instruction by an unregistered and unlicensed person.
You really need to read the story several times to convince yourself that she’s actually been punished. All that appears to have happened is that she must pay back part of the money she took from the learners she taught. Although she wasn’t charged with it, it is highly likely that she wasn’t insured – or her learners weren’t – when out on these lessons.
Petelska actually comes out of it looking better than the DSA. Her defence lawyer said:
…[she] had provided a vital service to Polish learners.
“She has not been convicted of any offences in the past and she is not likely to appear before the court again.
“She accepts she made an error, but there is no suggestion she posed a risk on the roads.
“She has four children, aged between seven and 25, who live in Poland and she sends money to them.
“She wants to work as a driving instructor in the future, but may not be able to because of this conviction.”
Well, at least we didn’t get the usual “she’s pregnant”, “her mother or father or brother or sister or friend recently died”, or that she was “seeking to come to terms with some personal crisis”. That’s the usual way to get off lightly.
Petelska was given an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay back £1,318 to her pupils. Plus she was ordered to pay court costs of £85.
It makes you wonder why the DSA’s Fraud & Integrity people even bother. They’ve not recovered any significant costs (you and me will have to pay for that one way or another), whereas Petelska has come out with a glowing reference.
And since she is a non-national she, I wouldn’t bet against her making it on to the Register of ADIs at some point in the future.