A BAFFLED driver returned from holiday only to find his car was swarmed by police claiming he stole his own car.
Motorcycle sales account manager Eathan Cooper, 24, owed bailiffs £2,500 in unpaid fines and had a bitter feud with Transport for London (TfL) over the confusion.
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While he was away, a crook had copied Eathan’s car registration – and racked up a hefty amount of fines.
The criminal racked up £360 worth of ULEZ fines and more than 20 fines for speeding, parking and bus lane penalties.
Eathan told NeedToKnow: “As the letters started to come through you realise this is serious now – something has happened here.
“I contacted the police. I was panicked. I was scared to drive my own vehicle.”
At one point during the eight-month-long dispute, Eathan, of Sawtry, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was “swarmed” by police.
Cops had mistaken him for the plate-cloning criminal and surrounded his car.
He said: “I started getting pulled over by the police.
“I got swarmed by police officers while running errands – they thought I was the cloned vehicle.
“I was also going to the Christmas markets in Manchester when I was pulled over on the M6.
“I was scared already knowing it could happen, then it started to happen.
“They [Manchester Police told] me [to] put stickers on my number plate so they knew I wasn’t the cloned vehicle.“
He said the nightmare first started when he received a bus fine while on holiday in Madrid.
The penalty detailed an offence offence took place at 2am in Essex – one that Eathan didn’t commit.
The sales account manager said his brother called him, leaving him “confused.”
He said: “He called me and said, ‘You’ve got a letter here, it looks like a speeding ticket.”
“I live over an hour from Essex, so I wouldn’t have been driving around at 2am.
“I was just really confused – because I was away in Madrid, I didn’t know what to think.”
Confused, he initially thought the penalty may have been a mistake but when a further 10 fines arrived over the following week, he knew something was seriously wrong.
As the fines flooded in, Eathan suspected his car number plate had been cloned.
Car plate cloning is when someone steals your vehicle’s licence plate number and puts it on a different car.
The other vehicle can then get fines or tickets but they are sent to you because your plate was used.
Eathan reported the crime to police who advised him to get a private number plate, setting him back £300, but things only got worse from there.
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Over the next few months, he managed to have his fines and penalties overturned by every authority – except Transport for London.
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He said: “TfL didn’t want to acknowledge anything.
“I had six tickets from them in total – I had to provide evidence for every single ticket.
“For a couple of them, I could prove I wasn’t even in England.
“I submitted the evidence – which included a ferry ticket, hotel bookings and a statement from manager when I was working.
“They didn’t accept that and said it wasn’t enough evidence.
“When I got the statement from the police, I called TfL and they wouldn’t let me add the letter in as part of evidence as it went past evidence stage.”
In a final attempt to avoid court after TfL rejected his appeal, Eathan went to Peterborough Magistrates’ Court to make a declaration statement.
He paid £30 per document to have six signed by legal professionals.
The torment finally came to an end last month when the BBC reached out to TfL.
The organisation apologised and confirmed his vehicle had been cloned.
Although the nightmare now seems to be behind him, Eathan admits that he stress has deeply affected his family.
He worries the criminal responsible may never be caught and that the same thing could happen again.
The uncertainty of being pulled over or receiving fines has caused a lot of arguments.
Eathan said: “The worst thing is I’m a UK motorcycle sales account manager.
“I’m constantly away – so it’s a case of getting all the letters through, my mum opening the letters and putting stress on her.
“It [has] caused a lot of arguments.
“We [don’t know] whether [the police has] found anyone [the criminal].
“That uncertainty has made it worse.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “We’re sorry that Mr Cooper has been a victim of vehicle cloning.
“Unfortunately, as we did not receive the evidence of cloning needed to support the representation made, the case progressed to an enforcement agent and warrants were issued in line with this.
“Having reviewed the case, we are satisfied that it is a cloned vehicle and have cancelled the penalties.”
The Sun has reached out to Greater Manchester Police for comment.
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