A bogus doctor who escaped a speeding fine by claiming he was on an emergency call was rumbled only after writing a badly spelt letter in an attempt to claim expenses for attending court.

Omid Chiang equipped his car with a flashing green light, a defibrillator and a “doctor-on-call” sign so he could break the speed limit at will and park anywhere he fancied.

Southampton Crown Court was told that Chiang, a healthcare manager, had been snapped by a speed camera driving at 38mph in a 30mph zone. The picture showed his vehicle displaying an emergency beacon.

At Southampton Magistrates’ Court Chiang, 26, denied speeding, claiming that he had been responding to an emergency call.

He produced a letter from a Naomi Wilson, who had purportedly telephoned him to ask if he could treat her four-year-old daughter.

The district judge convicted him of speeding but said that she would neither endorse his licence, nor disqualify him.

However, Chiang then submitted letters and invoices from Cheviot Healthcare claiming £1,632.80 for locum GP cover for his practice and travelling expenses to the court.

The letter was littered with spelling mistakes, prompting a further investigation. Part of the letter read: “I must assist I am reimbursed for my out of pocket expenses. I fully respect any compensation will come from the public purse but I have always sought to minimise costs and bravely chose to represent myself in court . . . even though I was offered emple assistance from two of my patients.”

Chiang was arrested and his car found to contain two revolving green lights, several doctor-on-call signs, a fluorescent jacket inscribed “doctor” and a defibrillator.

He told detectives that he lied because he feared he would lose his job and that he had boasted to people that he was a doctor because he felt “ashamed” of his true occupation.

He said he had used the doctor signs for easier parking and to gain credibility.

It also transpired that Ms Wilson had been his girlfriend. No action is being taken against her.

Chiang, who lives in Brighton, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice and attempting to obtain £1,632.80 from Southampton Magistrates’ Court.

Judge John Boggis, QC, told him: “This is extremely serious and you must be prepared for a custodial sentence.”

The Safer Roads partnership for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight yesterday described the case as “unusual”.

Its spokesman Julian Hewitt said: “It is very disturbing that someone should go to these lengths of posing as a doctor, even carrying a defibrillator and flashing lights on his car, to avoid a penalty.

“The fact that he had the gall to claim expenses but also to put in a claim for locum cover was pushing it too far.

“Ultimately, his letters made us suspicious through their inconsistency – sometimes he claimed to be a neurologist, then a GP, then a gynaecologist.

“It is very strange behaviour and worrying for anyone to think that a bogus doctor was roaming the streets.”

Times Recommends

• Donor organ allowed child’s own heart to heal
• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Brüno toned down for 15 rating