Sadiq Khan has had a conviction for failing to tax a vehicle withdrawn after officials concluded he had been caught up in what City Hall described as “a scam”.
Lord Khan was convicted under the controversial single justice procedure, known as the SJP, over an allegation that he had failed to tax a 24-year-old Nissan Micra.
City Hall officials, however, said the mayor was “the victim of a scam” linked to false vehicle registrations, insisting the car is not owned by either Mr Khan or Transport for London (TfL).
Single justice procedures were introduced in 2015 as a lower-cost way to process minor criminal cases, allowing magistrates to deal with matters alone and behind closed doors rather than in an open courtroom.
The 55-year-old mayor was found guilty last month by a magistrate of keeping an unlicensed vehicle, following a criminal prosecution brought by the DVLA.
Sitting in Herefordshire, the magistrate convicted Lord Khan in his absence and ordered him to pay a £220 fine, £85 in costs and the outstanding £35.84 vehicle tax bill for the Micra.
Court papers show that DVLA correspondence addressed to the mayor about the unpaid vehicle tax was sent to Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in east London, rather than to nearby TfL offices.
DVLA officers later reviewed the case and, after examining the circumstances behind the prosecution, said the action would now be withdrawn.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan (pictured) was convicted under the controversial single justice procedure (SJP) over neglecting to tax a 24-year-old car. City Hall officials say he has been ‘the victim of a scam’
Pictured: A Nissan Micra similar to the one Lord Khan was convicted for failing to tax. Officers at the DVLA reviewed the case and, after investigating the circumstances of the prosecution, said it would now be withdrawn
The DVLA told the BBC it had accepted the withdrawal, which it would formally do at Hereford Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, and would investigate the false registration.
A spokesman for the mayor, who became Baron Khan of Tooting after he was appointed to the House of Lords in July, said: ‘This is a scam, which is a crime. It’s not the first time the mayor has been victim of a scam involving people falsely stating that Sadiq is the owner of a vehicle. Such behaviour is illegal, and the DVLA are aware.’
It comes after a host of furious motorists pledged to register their vehicles in Lord Khan’s name in a protest against the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover the whole of London.
The protesters hoped to make him liable for the £12.50 daily charge for entering the zone.
The mayor was widely accused of waging war on motorists by Londoners after he expanded ULEZ and hiked the congestion zone charge.
He is also considering introducing new charges for SUV drivers, it was reported earlier this year.
Critics have dubbed the SJP ‘conveyor belt justice’, with magistrates deciding on hundreds of cases a day and sometimes spending less than a minute making each decision.
A Ulez sign in Uxbridge, west London.A host of furious motorists pledged to register their vehicles in Lord Khan’s name in a protest against the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover the whole of London
The system, which is currently under Government review, was criticised in 2024 when around 59,000 train fare evasion convictions had to be overturned for being unlawful and it emerged that children had been wrongly convicted in the secretive courts.
It has also been the focus of intensifying scrutiny thanks to regular incidents of sick and incapacitated people being harshly convicted of not paying their household bills.
In Lord Khan’s case, court records seen by the Press Association show he was prosecuted by the DVLA after the annual tax on the blue Nissan Micra, which was first registered in 2002, ran out in September last year.
The DVLA accused Lord Khan of being the keeper of the vehicle when it was spotted as being untaxed on January 24, telling the court that his name and date of birth appear against the car on official records held by the Government.
The agency said a letter asking for confirmation of the identity of the car owner went unanswered in January, leading to a criminal prosecution.
Lord Khan serves as the chair of TfL as part of his mayoral role, and the organisation has its offices on the ninth floor of 5 Endeavour Square in Stratford.
But court papers show the DVLA sent its letters to 9 Endeavour Square, a two-minute walk away from the TfL base, in a building where Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen, Bar & Rooftop occupies the top floor.
Surinder Gidda, sitting at Herefordshire Magistrates’ Court, convicted Lord Khan on August 18 after no plea had been entered to the charge.
The court has also sent a record of conviction to the Gordon Ramsay restaurant, ordering Lord Khan to pay the £340.84 court bill within 28 days or face the prospect of increased fines, bailiffs, or even ‘a warrant for your arrest to bring you to court’.
Defendants who believe they have been wrongly convicted of a crime in their absence can apply for the case to be re-opened, typically by appearing in person in front of a judge to make a statutory declaration.
The DVLA will now apply to the court itself for the case to be reopened and withdrawn.
