NSW pensioner fined $362 for using a mobile phone while driving – despite never having had one

A pensioner who was fined for using a mobile phone while driving has claimed he has never had one in his life – and was actually holding his wallet.

Frank Singh, 77, was fined $362 after he was caught by a mobile phone detection camera on the Pacific Motorway in the Northern Rivers region of NSW last September.

Mr Singh refused to pay the fine, arguing that he could not use a telephone at the time because he had never owned one – or even a computer.

The 77-year-old decided to appeal and take Revenue NSW to court, despite the risk of having to pay thousands in legal fees if he lost the case.

“It looks like I'm guilty of it, but I'm not,” he said A current issue.

“I thought, what the hell is this about, I don't have a cell phone. I've never used a cell phone before. What a load of shit.”

Mr Singh was pinged for apparently using a phone while driving on a road trip to visit a partner.

Footage captured by the traffic detection cameras shows Mr Singh sitting behind the wheel and looking at an object in his left hand.

“I think it could be my wallet,” he said when asked what the item could be.

Although Mr Singh admitted he cannot remember exactly what he was doing at the time, he believes he may have put his wallet on the passenger seat after paying for the fuel.

He decided to appeal the fine, which required a friend to provide her mobile phone and email address.

The review was rejected and Mr Singh was again ordered to pay the fine.

“I thought it would be a pretty simple process to drop it,” his friend Kishori Breeze told the program.

'He received a letter saying: yes, we understand that you say you don't have a phone, but please pay the fine anyway.'

But Mr Singh refused to give up.

“Then I thought, I'm not guilty, I don't have a damn phone,” he said.

The pensioner was warned by the Byron Bay magistrate that if found guilty he would not only have to pay the $362 fine but also at least $2,000 in legal costs.

Lawyer Richard Mitri said Mr Singh would have suffered a “pretty big blow” if he had lost the second appeal.

He said traffic violations typically presumed drivers had done something wrong, making it difficult to prove otherwise in court.

Although Mr Singh (pictured) cannot remember exactly what he was doing at the time, he says it is possible he put his wallet on the passenger seat after paying for fuel.

“With most traffic violations it's actually the other way around,” says Mitry.

“So in this case, you're under the assumption that you did the wrong thing based on the fact that a camera captured you and the camera thought you did the wrong thing.”

In an unexpected turn of events, Revenue NSW has since withdrawn the fine.

Mr Singh received a letter stating that he would not appear in court following an investigation by the government agency.

“We have decided to withdraw the fine,” the letter said.

“You little bloody beauty, how good is that,” said Mr. Singh when he heard the news.

He planned to celebrate the victory with a beer at his local pub.