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A banned driver who bragged on social media about how he'd managed to avoid getting caught by police is now behind bars, partly thanks to online posts.
Danny Simpson, 31, of The Meadows, Gravesend, had in November 2020 been listed with the Met's Road Crime Team as a high harm offender after displaying an increasing pattern of dangerous behaviour on roads across London, Kent and Essex.
Despite having been banned from driving mostly since 2006, Simpson had continued to drive illegally while taking to his social media channels to brag about his perceived evasion of police.
Even though he had been convicted of driving while disqualified 12 times, Simpson continued to show a blatant disregard for the law.
On December 2, 2020, Road Crime Team officers recognised a Range Rover parked outside a restaurant in Mayfair. They started making inquiries to establish who the owner was at which point Simpson came out of the restaurant, approached officers and starting mocking them, saying they would not be able to prove he was the driver of the vehicle.
However, an investigation by the Road Crime Team uncovered sufficient evidence to prove Simpson was indeed the driver. CCTV and witness statements clearly corroborated Simpson arriving in the driver’s seat of the Range Rover and entering the restaurant, and posts on social media showed him driving to the restaurant in a distinctive blue and white t-shirt.
Simpson was arrested on December 21, 2020 and in interview, chose to make no comment before becoming disruptive and refusing to be interviewed any further. But due to overwhelming evidence, he was charged.
On March 1, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Simpson initially denied the offences, and elected to take the matter to trial but he changed his plea to guilty just a few days before the trial was due to start.
On Tuesday, September 14 at City of London Magistrates’ Court he admitted to driving while disqualified and driving without insurance. He was sentenced at the same court to 12 weeks’ imprisonment, ordered to pay a total of £328 in fines, and further disqualified from driving for 21 months.
Inspector Danny Mount, of the Met’s Road Crime Team, said: “It is clear in this case that Danny Simpson had no regard for the law or anybody else’s safety.
“Such is Simpson’s blatant disregard for the law by continuing to drive whilst disqualified, a custodial sentence was imposed by the court.
“Simpson was arrogant enough to think he would not get caught. This is clearly not the case.
“Officers from the Road Crime Team will continue to work tirelessly and relentlessly to remove dangerous drivers, like Simpson, from London’s roads. I hope he uses his time in prison to reconsider his attitude to driving, which could have resulted in serious harm to the public.”
Established in April 2020 in a bid to crack down on serious offences committed on London’s roads, the Met’s Road Crime Team has made hundreds of arrests in the 18 months since launching.
Based in central London, the team deploys seven days-a-week in marked and unmarked vehicles, as well as on motorcycles, across London.
It conducts a wide range of operations, including proactive use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), intercepting criminals and wanted offenders, and focused deployments in the Met’s priority crime areas working alongside the Violent Crime Task Force, Territorial Support Group and Dog Section.
