A MAN who pretended to be his twin brother when the police caught him driving while using a handheld phone in the Bradford district has been jailed for 15 weeks.

Shaun Delaney had lied to a police officer when he was stopped at 7pm on December 30 last year because he didn’t want to be behind bars on New Year’s Eve, Bradford Crown Court was told.

He was at the wheel of a black Vauxhall Astra when he was spotted on the phone in Norman Lane, Idle, Bradford, prosecutor Paul Nicholson said.

Delaney told the police his name was Simon Delaney, putting his brother in jeopardy of losing his job as a driver, the court heard.

On January 3, Simon Delaney got a letter saying he was going to be fined £200 and have six penalty points added to his driving licence.

His brother then rang him, asked if he was in a good mood, and told him what he had done, Mr Nicholson said.

Shaun Delaney confessed to the police, saying: “I didn’t want to be locked up before New Year’s Eve.”

In June, he was sentenced to a community order for taking a vehicle without consent and driving uninsured, in November 2018, the court was told.

Delaney, 34, of Hall Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, pleaded guilty to doing an act tending and intended to pervert the course of justice by telling the police that he was his twin brother to avoid detection for an offence.

His barrister, Abigail Langford, said he suffered from depression and anxiety and had panic attacks.

He rang the police to come clean about what he had done, and he was very remorseful.

He did not intend to get his twin brother into trouble.

Miss Langford said that Delaney had been in work.

He was a valued member of his family and a useful member of society.

Judge Jonathan Rose told him: “You have had brushes with the law before.”

The points system existed to ensure that people drove within the law and were banned if they did not.

Delaney had lied to try to avoid prosecution.

“An entirely innocent man was to be prosecuted and get six points and he would have lost his job,” Judge Rose said.

“Your little lie had very significant and major consequences.”

Judge Rose said that perverting the course of justice “strikes at the heart of the criminal justice system.”

Delaney was banned from driving for six months.