March 1, 2001 16:38: A STUDENT was cleared of driving offences after claiming there had been a case of mistaken identity by a police officer working his first day of duty.

Rukhsar Matloob, 20, from Roberts Road, High Wycombe, was said to have been arrested on August 29 last year at 12.06pm.

But Mr Matloob, who pleaded not guilty to driving without insurance and no MOT, claimed the man the police officer stopped that day was not himself but an imposter.

At the trial, at Wycombe Magistrates Court last Thursday, PC David McCarthy said he stopped the car in Castle Street, High Wycombe.

"When I approached the vehicle the driver was in the process of exiting the vehicle. He identified himself as Rukhsar Matloob," he told the court.

The police officer gave the court a description of the man he had stopped in August stating that the defendant was that man.

He said: "I am absolutely certain. The actual event that took place was my first day on the beat and the first thing I did as I left the station."

He told the court that identification had been asked for on August 29 but none was given.

Mr Matloob, who pleaded not guilty, told the court that although personal details such as the name, address, and date of birth were correct the home telephone number given was incorrect.

He told the court that he did not know the whereabouts of the Vauxhall Cavalier which was stopped that day and that it was not his vehicle.

"I did look back but couldn't really remember what I was doing. If someone has given my details they don't have my phone number," he said.

Under questioning from prosecutor Balbir Seyan, Mr Matloob told the court that neither he nor any members of his family owned the car.

He told the court he had been revising over the summer in order to resit an exam and did not undertake vacation work.

Magistrates said they could not be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Matloob was the driver of the car that day and he was found not guilty.

Caroline Oldfield