A driving school in Antwerp, alongside 33 of its students, has been summoned to court over alleged test fraud. The case is still open, with some of the student defendants appearing in court on Wednesday, De Morgen reports.
A fine of €800 was demanded from all the defendants, with the prosecution demanding that those who have a blank criminal record do 120 hours of community service. Those who have previous convictions are facing one year in prison, and are being considered "dangers on the road".
According to the defendants, most of who have not been in Belgium for very long, the driving school had convinced them that they would not pass the test with their level of Dutch. It allegedly said that it would, therefore, read each question through a hidden camera and translate it to them through the earpiece.
"They were given earphones in and wore a wifi router," claimed the prosecution. "This way, they were told the correct answers in their ear."
Related News
- Driving under the influence: Cases in Belgium have exploded in recent years
- 'Visible and constant' decrease of average speed in Brussels
Defence lawyers are putting forward the case that their clients had been being misled by the driving school. "They said someone from another country like me would not get a driving licence, they would translate for me," a mother of three from Antwerp explained. The mother also stated that she had felt remorse while cheating and stopped her exam. She will not have to pay a fine, as only those who passed will have to do so.
The organisers of the school are likely to appear in court at a later date, while some of the students were due on Wednesday and others next month. They were identified from the readout of the main suspect's mobile phone, which showed pictures of the computer screen during the exam. Apart from the questions, they each showed the name of the person taking the exam, as well as the date and time of the exam.
