'Fake' licence charges against Guy Martin dropped Published duration 27 December 2019

image copyright Getty Images image caption Guy Martin combines his TV career with working as a lorry mechanic

Charges against motorcycle racer and TV celebrity Guy Martin have been dropped.

Mr Martin, 38, from Lincolnshire, had been accused of possessing a fake Irish licence and using it to alter his UK licence to enable him to drive HGVs.

Psychiatrists had concluded Mr Martin does not always apply common sense and may have been taken in, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

The former Isle of Man TT rider who has autism had been due to stand trial on 6 January.

The case was brought because an Irish driving licence was submitted on Mr Martin's behalf to add the HGV entitlement to his UK licence, however it was a fake.

Mr Martin, of Barnetby, had denied possession of a driving licence with intent to deceive and making a false statement by claiming he had an Irish licence.

Judge Simon Hirst said: "The prosecution accept that it is conceivable that Mr Martin did think this was a genuine licence."

Mr Martin, who combines his television work with working as a lorry mechanic, had always said that he believed he passed a test while working in Northern Ireland and received a licence he believed was genuine.

The prosecution told Tuesday's hearing psychiatrists had concluded he did not always apply common sense and has a tendency to take what people say at face value.

Prosecutor Michael Cranmer-Brown said his autism also made him "vulnerable enough for others to see him as an easy target".

He said they accepted Mr Martin "may well have been taken in by somebody".