A West Midlands driver has been jailed for 20 months after giving police false names and addresses during two separate traffic stops, causing an innocent man significant distress.
First Incident
Adam Rybicki, 60, was first stopped by West Midlands Police on Holyhead Road, Birmingham, on August 7, 2024, for using a mobile phone and not wearing a seatbelt. He gave officers the false name Christian Benner and an address on Beach Avenue, Wolverhampton.
The real resident at that address received correspondence about the incident and had to confirm he was not the driver. Prosecutor Robert Cowley said: He said this has led to stress in his personal life due to an ongoing decline in his health. He says it has caused him and his family significant distress.
Second Stop
Police used artificial intelligence to identify Rybicki from body-worn camera footage, putting a marker on police systems. On November 20, he was stopped again while driving without insurance or a valid licence, this time giving the false name Marek Rudnicki.
Officers used a fingerprint scanner to identify him and he was arrested. Rybicki, who required a Polish interpreter, pleaded guilty to two counts of perverting the course of justice, driving without insurance and driving without a valid licence.
Sentencing
Defence counsel Eoin Campbell said his client's age and poor English had made custody difficult, adding: You can consider Mr Rybicki as a man who, perhaps, made two very foolish mistakes. Recorder Michael Duck sentenced Rybicki, of Ettingshall Road, Wolverhampton, to 10 months for each perverting justice charge, to run consecutively.
