London, Aug 21 (Daily Mirror) : A millionaire businessman has been fined £8,000 after being caught using fake plates on his fleet of luxury cars, including a Porsche and a Bentley, so he could park wherever he wanted without getting a ticket.
Julian King, 43, used number plates which weren't registered to the high-end vehicles so he could not be linked to petty offences such as parking on double yellow lines.
The wealthy businessman, who is the director of property company National Homebuyers, was handed the bill after being convicted of the 'calculated fraud' at Brighton Magistrates Court.
He flouted restrictions by parking his expensive range of cars - which included a Porsche, Bentley, Range Rover, Mercedes, Audi and BMWs - knowing their registrations could not be traced back to him.
Police said King, of Brighton, East Sussex, used three old vehicle registration plates not assigned to cars he owned.
He was then charged with three offences of fraudulently using a vehicle registration mark and possessing an article in connection with fraud.
The court heard King parked his vehicles in resident permit bays, loading bays and on double yellow lines in Brighton.
He would leave his cars unattended knowing the plates displayed on his vehicles could not be traced back to him.
The offences came to light in May last year when a woman reported she had received 15 parking tickets for a car that was not hers, but had a similar licence plate.
King also evaded detection by concealing the tax disc in the vehicle on each occasion to prevent authorities establishing the correct owner's details.
The businessman, who lives in a £2.5million gated mansion, was convicted of using the vehicles to commit the offences on at least 45 occasions over a period of five years.
King was fined £3,870, and ordered to pay costs of £2,000, compensation of £2,000 and a victim surcharge of £120.
A number of licence plates owned by King have been revoked by the Driver Vehicle and Licensing Agency.
PC Mark Bassett said: 'This wasn't a case of someone trying to get away with a quick stop somewhere they shouldn't or spending a little too long shopping.
'This was calculated fraud, pure and simple, and it has been rightfully punished.'
A Brighton and Hove City Council spokeswoman said: 'The council co-operated with the police throughout, providing evidence when available and a member of staff from our parking services team appeared in court as requested.'
Julian King, 43, purchased a number of personalised number plates but did not tell the DVLA that he had put them on his fleet of luxury cars, which included a Porsche, BMW and Bentley.
Under DVLA rules, drivers are able to buy personalised number plates and hold them for ten years without fitting them to cars.
The DVLA is supposed to be notified when they are, which King failed to do. By doing this it meant that the DVLA was not allowed to release details of the number plates King had purchased to the parking authority, in this case Brighton and Hove City Council.
However, it is forced to do so when requested by the police.
Sussex Police became involved after a woman received 15 parking tickets for a car that was not hers and contacted the force. An investigation was launched and it turned out that a parking warden had incorrectly recorded the number plate for one of King's cars, hence why the woman was receiving letters for having a similar number plate.
The council then revealed to police that it had 45 offences that had remained unpaid which were linked to similar personalised number plates and, after contacting the DVLA, it was then that the police traced them back to King and uncovered his fraud.