Cardiff mechanic who falsified MOT on car in fatal crash gets 12-month community order

Mixed · 2Neil Lewis, 47, a mechanic from Cardiff, was given a 12-month community order at Cardiff Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to fraud by false representation over an MOT he passed on a car later involved in a fatal crash. 1 2 Centre · 1He was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay a £185 court surcharge and £114 costs. 1 Mixed · 2Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Rafel Jeanne, 24, who was driving, died when the Volkswagen Tiguan left the road and crashed into woodland near a roundabout at St Mellons, Cardiff. Sophie Russon and Shane Loughlin survived with serious injuries. 1 2

Mixed · 2The group, last seen at about 02:00 on 4 March 2023 after a night out, lay undiscovered for around two days and were found just after midnight on 6 March. 1 2 Mixed · 2The court heard the car had been sold at auction to a friend of Mr Jeanne after an earlier crash in Scotland. It failed an MOT on 9 February 2023 with a warning light showing a seatbelt or airbag fault, and Lewis retested it and passed it with advisories. 1 2 Centre · 1Lewis told police that at the retest the seatbelt and warning light were off and the rear seatbelt was working. He texted the buyer: "Car is done. It's 560 you have to sort the seatbelt and the airbag light. I've passed the car though." The court heard the seatbelts had never been replaced and were defective. 1

Mixed · 2The Daily Mail reported that Lewis passed the car knowing it should have failed. The BBC reported the prosecution did not ask for the deaths to be treated as an aggravating factor, and the judge said the harm level was "not straightforward" to set and that she could consider the "wider impact". 2 1 Centre · 1Judge Charlotte Murphy called his actions a "dereliction of his duty" as an MOT tester but accepted it was a "one-off offence" and "not motivated by financial gain". Defence counsel Jon Lewis said the mechanic had 30 years in the motor industry with no prior complaint and called the decision "baffling". The court heard Lewis had owned G and J Motors for 21 years and surrendered his testing certificate after the crash. 1 Mixed · 2In July, Darcy Ross's family confronted Lewis outside court with her photograph, telling him to "remember her name". The BBC said none of the victims' families attended the sentencing hearing. 1 2

Mixed · 2The police response is a separate strand. The BBC said the IOPC announced in November 2025 that four Gwent Police officers would face gross misconduct hearings. The Mail said six officers were charged with misconduct allegations and two were cleared at an internal hearing. The Mail also said a court previously heard the group had been drinking alcohol and inhaling laughing gas before the crash. 1 2