Danny Simpson jailed for driving offences

A man who took to social media to brag about his perceived evasion of police while driving illegally has been jailed following a successful investigation by the Met’s Road Crime Team.

Danny Simpson, 31 (02.11.89), of The Meadows, Gravesend, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, 14 September at City of London Magistrates’ Court 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.

The court heard that in November 2020, Simpson was assigned to the 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 disqualified 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.

Having been convicted of driving whilst disqualified 12 times previously, Simpson continued to show a blatant disregard for the law.

On 2 December 2020, Road Crime Team officers located a Range Rover parked outside a restaurant in Mayfair. After recognising the vehicle, officers began making enquiries to establish its owner.

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During this time, Simpson exited the restaurant and approached officers, mocking them while dictating that they would not be able to prove he was the driver of the vehicle.

An investigation by the Road Crime Team uncovered sufficient evidence to prove that Simpson was indeed the driver of the vehicle.

CCTV and witness statements clearly corroborated Simpson arriving in the driver’s seat of the Range Rover and entering the restaurant.

Open source work also found evidence on social media which showed him driving to the restaurant in a distinctive blue and white t-shirt.

Simpson was arrested on 21 December 2020 and in interview, chose to make no comment before becoming disruptive and refusing to be interviewed any further.

Due to the overwhelming evidence compiled by the Met’s Road Crime Team, he was charged as above.

On 1 March 2021 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court Simpson initially pleaded not guilty and elected to take the matter to trial.

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A few days prior to the trial, and likely due to the overwhelming visual evidence gathered by the Road Crime Team, Simpson changed his plea to guilty.

Established in April 2020 in a bid to crack down on serious offences committed on London’s roads, the Met’s Road Crime Team have 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.

The team 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.

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.”

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