UK: Fake driver licences con back-fires for Zimbabwe carer and husband

By South Wales Argus

A HUSBAND and wife were caught using false documents to apply for driving licences.

Mncedisi Moyo, 32, and Thembani Odrie Nkala, 30, used fake Zimbabwean driving licences in a doomed attempt to exchange them for UK driving licences.

The couple are in the county legally and live in Newport after moving to Wales from their homeland of Zimbabwe on skilled worker visas which expire in 2028.

Tom Roberts, prosecuting, said the defendants never received British driving licences after their ruses were spotted by DVLA officials.

Moyo had failed two driving tests in Zimbabwe and submitted a forged licence in his name, Cardiff Crown Court was told.

Nkala presented a Zimbabwean driving licence belonging to someone else, Mr Roberts revealed.

The couple, both of Collingwood Avenue, Newport pleaded guilty to possession/control of false identity documents with intent committed last year.

Neither defendant has any previous convictions.

Sol Hartley for Moyo said his client and their wife have a young daughter who would have to return to Zimbabwe should they be jailed.

“The defendant has expressed remorse and he’s sorry for what he’s done,” his barrister added.

Moyo earns more than £2,000 a month employed in a job that wasn’t specified.

Pamela Kaiga for Nkala said her client is a care worker.

“She knows her judgement was clouded by her desperate situation and the pressure she was under,” her lawyer said.

“The defendant bitterly regrets that she has lost her good character.”

Nkala now has a UK driving licence following her application for one after passing her test in Zimbabwe.

Judge Simon Mills told the pair their offending had been “stupid attempts”.

He added: “I can see from looking at you in the dock that you are both remorseful for what has happened.

“This is a serious offence with a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment.”

The couple were spared immediate custody after they were both jailed for four months with their sentences suspended for 12 months.

They will each have to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and pay a £154 victim surcharge.