An innocent woman was forced to give DNA samples, had her car impounded, and was summoned to court after a licencing database bungle. Rachel Martins, 31, was on her way to work on Tuesday morning when police pulled her over in Cockburn in southern Perth, for a random breath test. The disability support worker blew a zero reading but police checked her licence and told her it was suspended on medical grounds. ‘I was very confused and in tears as they took a DNA test, fingerprints and mugshot. I felt so humiliated as I knew I did nothing wrong,’ she said. Ms Martins was then told her car would be impounded and she would be issued a court summons on a charge of driving with a suspended licence. ‘I explained I had a medical assessment done every two years because I take medication for anxiety and depression,’ she said. ‘But I had done that and filled out he forms and was issued a driver’s licence that was valid until July. Why would I be issued a valid drivers license if it was suspended?’ Ms Martins said her protests fell on deaf ears as the database police looked up her licence on showed it was suspended. ‘The only explanation I received was that they did not know and that I would have to contact the Department of Transportation,’ she said. ‘All they had to do was call the Department and they would have verified my licence validity. It would have taken 10 minutes.’ Instead, Ms Martins was stranded by the side of the road with no way to make it to work, where a disabled client was waiting for her. ‘I walked away in tears figuring out who to call to pick me up and having to call work and my client who is waiting for me to care for him why I can’t come in,’ she said. ‘The whole ordeal emotionally distressed me, and it also affected my disabled client, who didn’t have anyone to look after him.’ Ms Martins complained to police and the WA Transport Department and police realised their mistake on Wednesday morning. ‘I received a call from a police sergeant in charge that day for the bus apologising and saying he would drop my car off,’ she said. ‘The least they could have done is filled it up with petrol for me!’ WA Police said it requested clarification of Ms Martins’ licence validity with the Transport Department, which ‘confirmed there was an anomaly in the system’. ‘In recognition of the error, an officer attended at the residence of Ms Martins to offer an apology and returned her vehicle,’ it said. ‘Ms Martin will not be charged and all her identifying particulars will be destroyed.’ The Transport Department blamed the misunderstanding on not every part of its system being automatically updated, which caused delays. ‘A subsequent review by DoT revealed that incorrect information regarding her licence status had been provided to police. This was immediately corrected,’ it said.
