January 22, 2021
An Iranian who tried to cheat on his UK driver’s written test by sending someone in his place was foiled when the impostor spoke perfect English, a court has been told.
Amir Lorzadeh, 38, who lives in Birmingham, was jailed October 30 after making three attempts to game the system.
Lorzadeh was caught twice at test centers a year apart when he tried to use an earpiece. The first time, in 2017, he claimed he did not know it was illegal to use a digital earpiece during the test.
In November 2018, he was removed from the test center when he dropped the earpiece before he started the examination. In November 2019, he scheduled to take the test at another test center.
He sent another man who had a similar appearance. The impersonator was highly skilled in English and passed the exam easily. But when the test administrators saw his previous effort at cheating and noted that he was an adult immigrant while the person who took the test spoke English as a native, they did not allow Lorzadeh to take the driving test behind-the-wheel a month later, prosecutor Justin Davies told Gloucester Crown Court.
The court was told Lorzadeh was a successful sportsman in his home country and went on to achieve international bodybuilding and weightlifting awards before arriving in the UK in 2016 seeking asylum.
He had previously attempted to set up a fitness business, but this did not prove viable and so he scouted out other jobs, while trying to circumvent the language barrier to get a driving license.
“He seems to think the theory [written] test is an inconvenience and is an unnecessary obstacle in his way,” said Judge Jason Taylor. Judge Taylor said that Lorzadeh’s repeated efforts to cheat constituted “serious offences” and also commented on Lorzadeh’s lack of remorse. Then the judge sentenced him to a hefty 11 months in jail.