A magistrate yesterday warned law-breakers who give false names to the Police that they risk going to jail.

His warning came after a Devonshire man gave his dead grandfather’s name when pulled over by Police during a routine traffic stop.

Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney told Magistrates’ Court that David Lee, 52, of Vesey Street, was driving at 10.48 a.m. on Kindley Field Road, St. George’s, on January 21, when Police asked him to pull over the car.

When Police asked for his identification he said he did not have it and told them he was Cecil Lee, his grandfather who had passed away.

The Police recognised Lee as David Lee and not Cecil Lee and arrested him on charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo asked Lee, who pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, if he had anything to say. He said: “I apologise and it was wrong what I done.”

Mr. Tokunbo reprimanded Lee saying: “It is wrong and too prevalent, people giving out someone else’s name in Bermuda. And someone else could have been arrested and a warrant could have gone out.

“The maximum sentence is three years in prison or you could be fined up to $7,500.” Mr. Tokunbo fined Lee $2,000.

Mr. Tokunbo’s words come only weeks after The Royal Gazette reported that the backlog of warrants was near 10,000 and that many were from people falsifying their names when stopped by Police.

Many drivers take advantage of a court system that gives them 24 hours to produce their licence after getting stopped.

As a result, they give a false name — most commonly a relative or a school or college friend — and unless the arresting officer can tell the suspect is lying, they have to accept what they are told.

When the name of the individual given to Police does not appear in court to answer to the charges then the court will issue an apprehension warrant for them.

At the end of last year, The Royal Gazette reported that the backlog of nearly 10,000 warrants in the court system meant an estimated $1 million plus was not going into Government coffers.

P.c. Raynor, in December 2006, confirmed that ‘apprehension warrants’ made up the majority of the backlog, estimating that up to 80 percent of the backlog is for traffic matters.

Most were for offences like speeding, not having a driver’s licence or failing to stop at red lights.

An ‘apprehension warrant’ is when someone is ticketed to appear in court — but does not show.

In December, P.c. Raynor urged people who knew they have outstanding warrants to make themselves known to Police.

Otherwise, he warned, they could face the embarrassing situation of being arrested on a Friday night and spending the weekend in the cells.

To deal with the other problem of motorists falsifying their names, Police have called for a law change that would force motorists to carry a valid driver’s licence.