// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Mechanic who falsified MOT before crash that killed three given community order
Neil Lewis pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation
A mechanic who gave a car a fraudulent MOT just weeks before it was involved in a fatal crash that killed three people has been given a 12-month community order.
Neil John Lewis, 47, from Cardiff, had previously pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation.
Eve Smith, 21, Darcy Ross, 21, and Rafel Jeanne, 24, died when the car crashed into woodland in St Mellons, Cardiff, in March 2023. They lay undiscovered for two days. Two other people survived.
Cardiff Magistrates' Court heard Lewis had owned G and J Motors for 21 years and had voluntarily surrendered his testing certificate following the incident.
Eve Smith, 21, Rafel Jeanne, 24, and Darcy Ross, 21, died in the crash in March 2023
The car had been sold at auction to a friend of victim Rafel Jeanne, who was driving on the night of the fatal crash. The car had previously been involved in a crash in Scotland.
It failed an MOT carried out on 9 February 2023 with the warning system light on, indicating a fault with the seatbelt, air bag, or both, and with the mileage recorded at about 98,000.
Lewis retested the car two weeks later, telling police in interview when he did so "the seatbelt and warning light were now off and the rear seatbelt was now working", so he "passed it with some advisories" and it was collected by Jeanne.
He sent a text starting with a grin emoji which read: "Car is done. It's 560 you have to sort the seatbelt and the airbag light. I've passed the car though."