Faisal Sharif v Registrar of Approved Driving Instructors

Facts

Mr Sharif was entered on the Register of Approved Driving Instructors in May 2024. He was also the sole director of a Subway sandwich franchise company established in 2014. He was charged in May 2023 and, on 29 August 2024, pleaded guilty to two offences of assisting unlawful immigration and one offence of fraud. The offences were committed between 2015 and 2017. He had kept the Registrar informed throughout, and the Registrar left his name on the Register while the criminal proceedings continued. On 5 December 2025 he was sentenced to a concurrent term of 39 months' imprisonment. After considering representations from his solicitors dated 28 January 2026, the Registrar decided on 17 February 2026 to remove his name from the Register, on the ground that he had ceased to be a fit and proper person. In his oral evidence to the Tribunal, Mr Sharif said that his accountant, a co-defendant, had told him to put nine people on his company's payroll who never worked for it. He said he had believed at the time that the arrangement was meant to assist mortgage applications. He also said his incentive had been to evade corporation tax, and he accepted that what he had done was dishonest. He was released on 21 July 2026 and remained on licence. He appealed, arguing that the offences were historic and unconnected with driving instruction, that he was of previous good character and remorseful, that his family depended on him, and that removal was disproportionate and punitive.