London Mayor Sadiq Khan convicted for not taxing 24-year-old car

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been convicted and fined after the UK’s Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) prosecuted him for not taxing a 24-year-old car that his office says he does not own.

Khan, 55, was convicted in his absence last month by a magistrate sitting in Herefordshire under the Single Justice Procedure. He was found guilty of keeping an unlicensed vehicle.

The court ordered him to pay a £220 fine, £85 in costs and £35.84 in unpaid vehicle tax. The mayor’s office has denied that he owned the blue Nissan Micra, which was first registered in 2002, and described the case as the result of a scam.

“This is a scam, which is a crime,” a spokesperson for the mayor said. “It is not the first time the mayor has been the victim of a scam involving people falsely claiming that Sadiq is the owner of a vehicle.” The spokesperson said the DVLA was aware of the matter.

The mayor’s adviser said that the agency was urgently examining the case and could seek to reopen it and withdraw the prosecution. The adviser said the DVLA would also investigate how Khan’s details came to be linked to the vehicle.

According to court records, the car’s annual tax expired in September last year. The DVLA later detected the Micra being driven without tax on January 24.

The agency told the court that Khan’s name and date of birth appeared against the vehicle in government records. It then sent a letter asking for confirmation of the vehicle owner’s identity. However, the letter went to the wrong address and received no response.

The lack of a response eventually led to the DVLA bringing a criminal prosecution on August 18. No plea had been entered in the case.

The court later sent the conviction notice to the Gordon Ramsay restaurant and warned that the £340.84 total bill had to be paid within 28 days.

Failure to pay could have led to a larger fine, enforcement action by bailiffs or a warrant for Khan’s arrest requiring him to appear before the court.