London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan has been fined after being convicted in his absence over an untaxed Nissan Micra — despite City Hall insisting the car did not belong to him or Transport for London.The Labour mayor, 55, has been convicted by a magistrate after the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) prosecuted him for keeping an unlicensed vehicle.
The case has taken an extraordinary turn after court documents revealed that letters warning Khan about the unpaid vehicle tax were sent not to City Hall or nearby Transport for London offices, but to a Gordon Ramsay restaurant in east London. City Hall has said the 24-year-old Nissan Micra was neither owned by Khan nor by TfL.
The blue Micra, first registered in 2002, had its annual vehicle tax expire in September last year. According to court records, the vehicle was subsequently identified as untaxed on 24 January. The DVLA told the court that Khan’s name and date of birth appeared against the vehicle on official government records. The agency then sent a letter seeking confirmation of the vehicle owner’s identity. But the correspondence was apparently sent to the wrong address and went unanswered.
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With no response and no plea entered, the matter proceeded to court. Khan was convicted in his absence during a private hearing under the Single Justice Procedure in Herefordshire.He was ordered to pay a £220 fine, £85 in costs and the £35.84 outstanding vehicle tax.That brought the total bill to £340.84.
The court subsequently sent a record of conviction to the Gordon Ramsay restaurant, warning that the money had to be paid within 28 days. Failure to pay could result in further fines, enforcement by bailiffs or even a warrant to bring the defendant before the court.The DVLA has now said it is reviewing the case and investigating the circumstances surrounding the prosecution.
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The case could potentially be reopened if Khan can establish that he was unaware of the proceedings because the correspondence was sent to the wrong address.Under the rules governing convictions made in a defendant’s absence, a person who believes they have been wrongly convicted can apply to have the case reopened, normally by appearing before a judge and making a statutory declaration.
If the case is reopened, Khan could enter a not-guilty plea or seek to have the prosecution withdrawn if it is established that he was wrongly identified as the owner or keeper of the vehicle.The DVLA could also apply to the court itself to have the case reopened.The unusual prosecution comes after a bitter political battle over Khan’s expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone.
The mayor faced a wave of protests from motorists after Ulez was extended across the whole of London, bringing millions more vehicles into the charging zone and imposing a £12.50 daily charge on vehicles that fail to meet the required emissions standards.Some opponents of the policy had threatened to register their vehicles in Khan’s name, potentially leaving him facing demands for Ulez payments.
Against that backdrop, the discovery that Khan’s personal details appeared on government records alongside an untaxed Nissan Micra has inevitably attracted attention.However, there is currently no evidence in the material released that Khan personally owned or operated the vehicle. The central question for the DVLA investigation is how the mayor’s name and date of birth came to be recorded against the Micra in the first place.
Khan at the moment remains formally convicted over the vehicle tax offence, although the circumstances surrounding the case leave open the possibility that the conviction could be overturned or the prosecution withdrawn.The episode has turned what would normally be a routine vehicle-tax prosecution into an extraordinary legal and political headache for London’s mayor.
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