A York man who faked a legal email and lied about having surgery in a bid to escape justice has been jailed.
Deniz Altin, a man described by a judge as being unable to “lie straight in bed”, was merely facing a looming driving ban.
CCTV cameras at a petrol station in Selby captured his BMW’s registration which when checked on the national database showed that the 23-year-old was a disqualified driver with no insurance.
Instead of taking the rap and accepting a driving ban for the offence in April 2022, the York man dug himself further and further into the hole with “lie after life after lie”, York Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Brooke Morrison said the series of bizarre events began when a police constable checked CCTV footage of the forecourt of the Barlby Road garage on an “unrelated” matter.
“She saw the defendant driving a silver BMW into the forecourt and getting out and filling up and driving off,” she added.
Police quizzed Altin the following month when he began to spin his web of lies which would ultimately land him in jail.
“He told the police constable that he had been driving but that he had done so because he was informed by his defence solicitor that he was no longer disqualified from driving and provided ‘proof’ of that in the form of what Altin claimed was an email from the solicitor to him,” said Ms Morrison.
‘The lawyer just happened to be Graham Parkin, one of the most highly respected solicitors in North Yorkshire whose law firm is based in Selby and who is a conscientious legal practitioner at the magistrates’ and crown court in York.
Ms Morrison said the officer’s suspicions were aroused by the email’s unusual syntax, which was completely lacking in any sense of legalese and looked like a hoax.
“She contacted Mr Parkin who said it was not his email address and he had not seen it,” said Ms Morrison.
“The defendant maintained throughout that he genuinely believed his disqualification had ended at the time he was driving.”
Turn for the surreal

Altin maintained his innocence right up to the day of trial when he admitted he had faked the email and created a bogus email account.
Due to some uncertainty over the length of the original driving ban, thought to be about seven months, the prosecution said they accepted that Altin genuinely believed he was no longer disqualified at the time of the offence, notwithstanding the audacity of the bogus email.
The case was initially set down for sentence in November last year after Altin, of Friars Walk, York, admitted perverting the course of justice.
But that’s when things really started taking a turn for the surreal.
In the days before the scheduled sentence hearing, Altin wrote a letter to the court office saying he couldn’t attend because he “had to undergo life-saving surgery on his stomach in Turkey”.
When the court office reminded him that he was due to face sentence on 17 November, Altin told them he had an appointment with Turkish medical professionals on that day and sent them ‘proof’ by way of a flight ticket from Turkey to Manchester on 27 November.
The prosecution said it appeared that Altin had indeed gone to the lengths of booking a real flight to Turkey, but he most definitely wasn’t on the plane.
In the event, Altin, who was of course still in Blighty, did turn up to the hearing on the allotted day and was duly remanded in custody.
He was quizzed about the letter to the crown court and admitted he had lied, had not been to Turkey and had never had abdominal surgery.
“His response to questioning in interview was that he was trying to get himself more time,” said Ms Morrison.
Meanwhile, judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, had reopened and adjourned the case on umpteen occasions before Altin finally received his comeuppance yesterday (Wednesday) after pleading guilty to a second charge of perverting the course of justice by sending the court a deliberately misleading letter.
Two previous convictions
Altin, who appeared via video link, had two previous convictions for seven offences including driving while disqualified and resisting a police officer.
Defence barrister Eleanor Fry said although Altin had produced a fake solicitor’s email, he genuinely “believed the information in the email was true”.
She said Altin came from a “very-tight-knit” family who had been severely affected by his “stupidity” and subsequent incarceration.
Judge Mr Morris branded Altin a “thoroughly dishonest man” whose deceit had had an “impact on the administration of justice”.
“This man is a liar,” he added.
“He told a blatant lie and as a result of his blatant lies there have been five court hearings.”
He told Altin: “People like you can’t lie straight in bed, you are so dishonest.”
Altin received a 13-month jail sentence for the two counts of perverting the course of justice but will only serve a short spell behind bars because of the amount of time he had already spent on remand.
There were no separate penalties for driving while disqualified and with no insurance, which he also admitted. He received a 12-month driving ban.