Taxi driver who lied after running red light is jailed
Friday, March 12, 2010
A woman taxi-driver who repeatedly lied to avoid three penalty points and a fine after running a red light has been jailed for trying to pervert the course of justice.
Tracey Stevens ran a light on Outland Road on September 17 last year.
Caught by an automatic camera, her punishment would have been three points on her licence and a fine of £60-£100.
Instead, she constructed an elaborate alibi which was eventually exposed as a tissue of lies.
Stevens, 41, told police the brakes on her Citroen people-carrier had failed and she was unable to stop.
She had then left the signwritten Star Cars cab at the side of the road to be picked up and repaired by local garage Evans Halshaw, she said.
She eventually produced a letter-headed invoice from the garage detailing repairs costing £135.44.
But her plan unravelled because she made a series of mistakes:
A police expert examined the cab and found the brakes had not been repaired.
Three times in the hour following the incident, when Stevens claims the cab was abandoned by the side of the road, it was caught driving round Plymouth by cameras with a number plate recognition system.
In her second police interview, carried out a day after the first at Stevens’ request, she admitted she had got a friend who worked at the garage to supply her with a blank invoice which someone had helped her fill in.
Jason Beal, for Stevens, said in the weeks before the incident, Stevens had suffered an incident in her cab which had distressed her so much that she had to take two weeks off from her job as a self-employed Star Cars driver.
This had strained her finances so she took a chance to avoid a fine.
Mr Beal added: “She is not a bad woman; there is good in her and she wants to give something back.”
Judge Francis Gilbert QC told Stevens her intention had been to avoid prosecution, but she had made matters much worse for herself.
Judge Gilbert jailed Stevens, of Cecil Street, Stonehouse, for eight months and imposed three penalty points on her licence.
A spokeswoman for the Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership said: “It is disappointing to find that people are still going to great and calculated lengths to avoid prosecution despite extensive media coverage highlighting similar cases and their resulting sentences.
“We urge offenders to think seriously about the possible outcome of embarking on this course of action.
“Our enquiry officers will investigate all matters such as this and identify, and prosecute, those drivers who attempt to pervert the course of justice. “Motorists must be aware that, if caught, they will face serious consequences; in this case an eight-month prison sentence as opposed to a £60 fine and 3 penalty points.”
Source; thisisplymouth.co.uk
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