Couple jailed for running fake ID factory
A couple have been jailed for running a "factory" producing fake ID used by youngsters to buy alcohol, in a landmark prosecution.
Adrian Holmes and Lucy Sanders netted £300,000 by producing cards at their home in Lymm, Cheshire. They sold their products via the website www.uwantid.co.uk.
Most of the fake documents were photo driving licences and national ID cards. None of the cards included the PASS hologram to show it is genuine.
Jailing Holmes, 32, for two years and Sanders, 28, for one year Judge Elgin Edwards said: "This business effectively drove a coach and horses through an area of control of youthful drinking and access to nightclubs. And there is the danger of even more serious misuse."
Holmes and Sanders admitted one specimen charge of conspiring to supply articles for use in fraud.
Andrew Chevis, chief executive of legitimate ID card scheme CitizenCard, said: "Fake ID destroys all the good work that police, trading standards and responsible retailers are doing to prevent underage sales.
"Websites offering fake ID have been aiding and abetting criminal offences for years now, so I am pleased that the Crown finally recognises the fact. I hope that trading standards now acts to prosecute anyone producing fake ID.
"The PASS hologram is the best way to ensure that an ID or proof-of-age card is valid. Retailers should reject all other ID unless 100% certain that a passport or driving licence is genuine."
