IT consultant Andrew Lees was wrongly arrested and held in a police cell for 16 hours after a DVLA clerical error branded him a disqualified driver.
The 47-year-old father was stopped by police while driving near his family home in Sale, Greater Manchester, because driving offences committed by another person had been mistakenly added to his Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency record.
Mr Lees, who lives in Sale with his wife and two daughters, aged nine and five, had never appeared before a court before. He first discovered the mistake in November 2025 when he received a letter from the DVLA stating he was banned from driving at Carlisle Magistrates' Court after accumulating 19 penalty points.
The disqualification was imposed under the Single Justice Procedure, a fast-track court system that allows magistrates to convict drivers behind closed doors without defendants being legally represented. Although Carlisle Magistrates' Court handled the hearing, the driving offences were committed by a different motorist in Greater Manchester.
Before his arrest, Mr Lees went to considerable lengths to resolve the issue himself. He repeatedly contacted the Single Justice Service, the DVLA and Carlisle Magistrates' Court by phone, email and letter, but was unable to receive a response or identify the court file responsible for the error.
"I absolutely knew those points were not mine. I thought it was just an admin error that would be easily cleared up," Mr Lees said. "But, after repeated emails, letters and calls to the DVLA, to the Cumbrian Magistrate's Court and to the Single Justice Service, I had no resolution. It was clearly a mistake, so I genuinely thought it would be ok to drive."
Police arrest and custody
His ordeal came to a head in February, three months after he first noticed the error, when police stopped him while he was driving. Because official records wrongly showed he was disqualified, officers arrested him on the spot.
"They pulled me over, breathalysed me twice and then said 'let's just get in the back of the van and we can sort this out'. Suddenly I'm arrested and heading to the cells," Mr Lees said.
Police officers locked him in a cell eight miles from home for 16 hours, leaving him facing a potential court case that could result in imprisonment. "It was terrifying. The officers just wouldn't listen to what I was telling them. I was locked up eight miles from home for something I hadn't done and facing a court case which could lead to jail," he said. "I tried to stay strong in the cells, but inside I was crying my eyes out."
During his time in custody, Mr Lees said the only food provided to him was "pot noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner".
Impact on family life
Following his release on bail with a court date set for June, Mr Lees faced four months unable to drive. The driving ban caused significant disruption to his family life, preventing him from carrying out daily tasks such as the school run and taking his daughters to extracurricular activities or birthday parties.
To challenge the charges, the family hired criminal defence specialists Olliers Solicitors, adding the burden of legal expenses to their distress. Austin Anderson-Brettell, a specialist motoring solicitor at Olliers, examined the court records and discovered that offences committed by another defendant had been incorrectly assigned to Mr Lees' driving licence number.
However, despite Olliers informing the Crown Prosecution Service of the clerical mistake, prosecutors did not immediately drop the case.
"It beggars belief that the case got this far. It should not have needed a legal professional to make it right. This could have been rectified so easily," Mr Anderson-Brettell said. "There were so many steps that could have been taken by the court, the police and the prosecution to have avoided Mr Lees going through this awful ordeal and wasting so much taxpayers' money."
Case dropped and calls for reform
Following representations made by Olliers Solicitors, the Crown Prosecution Service finally dropped the case the day before it was scheduled to be heard in court.
"The relief when I got the call from Austin was amazing," Mr Lees said. "I immediately took two days off work and just drove. I drove to Wales and Scotland and enjoyed the freedom to finally get behind the wheel again."
In the wake of the case, Mr Anderson-Brettell called for urgent reform of the Single Justice Procedure, highlighting severe flaws in the system. "The system has significant flaws that cannot be ignored. The main flaw is the lack of transparency. Justice must not only be done, but must be seen to be done," he said. "By allowing cases to be determined behind closed doors, the Single Justice Procedure at times risks undermining public confidence."
"There are also concerns that the process increases the risk of convictions being secured without meaningful engagement from defendants," Mr Anderson-Brettell added. "In some cases, important mitigation is not properly considered, vulnerable individuals do not receive the attention and consideration they require and questions about whether a prosecution is truly in the public interest goes unscrutinised. Unless these concerns are addressed, there is a real risk that the system will continue to produce avoidable mistakes and injustices (such as this one), eroding confidence in the justice process it was designed to improve."
Impounded vehicle and official responses
Despite the criminal prosecution being discontinued, the Kia Sportage owned by Mr Lees' wife remains impounded by Greater Manchester Police despite attempts by the family to reclaim it.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the charges against Mr Lees fell into a category where police are authorised to bring charges without consulting prosecutors. A CPS spokesperson explained that it was not until a Crown Prosecutor reviewed the file the day before the trial that the prosecution "immediately decided the matter should be discontinued".
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: "Officers acting on good faith with incorrect information from a clerical error made the arrest of a man in relation to a driving offence. Once this error was rectified, the matter was discontinued and the crime closed. The car has since been passed back to a third party pending final release."
