A banned driver who lied under oath at the Old Bailey has been locked up for 16 months after a judge told police they should investigate him and his friends.

Jason Catt, 44, had lied to police about him being at the wheel of a car during a police investigation into an assault on him.

Catt, of Coulman Street, Gillingham, had been an alleged victim in the police investigation which involved allegations of him being attacked with a sword by another man.

The incident happened in the Brasted area of Westerham in October 2015 where Catt suffered serious arm and neck injuries.

He had driven to an address in West End, Brasted, and following an apparent altercation, an investigation was triggered and detectives started to investigate the alleged attack.

Inquiries by detectives led to a trial at the central criminal court in London where it emerged Catt, along with a number of passengers also in the vehicle, had lied under oath.

They had fabricated a story about who had been driving on the evening in question as Catt was banned from the road.

Instead the group claimed it had been one of his relatives driving.

The man accused of assaulting Catt was found not guilty and when the trial ended the judge directed police to investigate Catt and the other passengers for perverting the course of justice.

Catt subsequently appeared before Maidstone Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of perverting the course of justice and on Monday, July 24, was jailed for 16 months.

The passengers in the car, Curtis Bradley, 19, of Meridian Road, Charlton and Chyanne Ali, 18, of John Wilson Street, Woolwich, also both pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

They were each sentenced to eight months at a young offenders’ institution, but the terms were suspended for 18 months.

Both were also ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

After sentencing, DC Tony Hatcher said: “When we examined the vehicle forensic tests detected blood stains from Catt around the driver area of the car.

“There was no staining around any of the other seats. It was clear he had been driving but Catt and the other witnesses persisted with a false story which then fell apart in court.

“Without doubt, the lies told have undermined our investigation into the circumstances surrounding a serious assault.

“Perverting the course of justice is a very serious offence and this has been shown in the court passing a significant custodial sentence.”