A Tenby barber who perverted the course of justice by blaming another man for two speeding offences has been sent to jail.

Swansea Crown Court heard that Diyar Ali had been caught speeding in his Toyota Yaris on two occasions. The first on April 21 2021 in Sketty and the second time on February 27 2022 on the A40 at Llanllwch .

Ali, aged 30, who was based at St Mary’s Street, Tenby, at the time had blamed another man, Mr Kareem, for both offences, saying that he was the driver and providing false information on a notice of impending prosecution (NIP) form.

The other man was prosecuted in his absence on two separate occasions for Ali’s offences and was fined a total of £440 and had six penalty points added to his licence.

It later transpired that Ali had paid at least £300 to try and avoid justice. He had given two Swansea addresses for Mr Kareem. Court documents had been sent to these addresses where they had been filled in, acknowledging that Mr Kareem was the driver.

On both occasions Mr Kareem was then convicted in his absence by magistrates.

However further investigation by police regarding the Swansea addresses revealed Ali’s deception.

It transpired that both addresses were houses of multiple occupation being used to accommodate asylum seekers. Mr Kareem had never lived at either one. However, the houses were being used as so called ‘NIP farms’.

These are addresses advertised on social media, usually TikTok, which will provide false information so that drivers avoid prosecution for traffic offences.

It transpired that Mr Kareem’s name had been used in multiple incidences where false driver information was issued.

In a victim personal statement, he said that being falsely named as perpetrator of the offences had led him to lose his driving licence, his car and his job as well as other employment opportunities.

He had become depressed and was prescribed anti depressants. He had had suicidal thoughts and struggled with his self-confidence.

“This feels worse than somebody assaulting me on the street or being burgled,” he said.

The court heard that police investigations that proved that Ali had been lying to the court involved fingerprinting, mobile phone analysis, use of automatic numberplate recognition technology and checks with the DVLA.

These had proved that Mr Kareem was nowhere near south Wales when the speeding offences were committed, but Ali was.

On February 6 this year Ali was interviewed under caution. He continued to deny the offences, saying that he had sold his car to Mr Kareem before the offences were committed. However, when the matter was brought to court, he pleaded guilty.

The court heard that Ali, whose most recent address was given as Ship Street in Brecon, was born in Iraq and had been granted temporary humanitarian permission to remain in the UK.

Defence solicitor, Jon Tarrant, said that Ali found it difficult to deal with day-to-day administrative tasks and relied heavily on friends for help.

He added that Ali had been naïve as to the effects his deception would have and did not fully understand the consequences.

He added that Ali now felt genuine remorse for what he had done.

Judge Mr Recorder J Powell KC handed down a total of eight months in prison for Ali and disqualified him from driving for a year and four months. He will also have to pay a £156 victim surcharge on release from prison and will spend a year under supervision on licence.