Charges against Guy Martin relating to his possession of a fake driving licence have been officially dropped after courts ruled it was conceivable he was duped into believing it was real.
The road racer-turned-TV personality was charged with possessing a fake Irish licence after he submitted it to the DVLA to alter his UK licence so he could drive HGVs. He was also charged with intent to deceive and making a false statement.
The case had been adjourned ahead of a trial scheduled for 6 January 2020 but testimony from psychiatrists shed new light on the charges, prompting them to be dropped altogether.
They concluded Mr Martin, who lives with autism, does not always apply common sense and that is possible he had been coerced into believing the licence was in fact genuine. The hearing revealed he ‘did not always apply common sense and has a tendency to take what people say at face value’.
Judge Simon Hirst said: "The prosecution accept that it is conceivable that Mr Martin did think this was a genuine licence."
Prosecutor Michael Cranmer-Brown said his autism also made him ‘vulnerable enough for others to see him as an easy target’ and that he ‘may well have been taken in by somebody’.
The news is a welcome end to a lengthy saga for Martin, who has nonetheless maintained a presence on our screens in a variety of shows, most recently ‘The Great Escape’ which saw him attempt to complete the famous motorcycle jumps in the classic film of the same name.
