Nurse jailed for driving fine lie

A Devon nurse who lied about not being the driver of a speeding car has been sent to jail for six months.

Joy Rees, 39, from Plymouth, was caught travelling at 51mph in a 40mph zone while driving a friend's car.

She responded to a fixed penalty notice saying an American resident had been at the wheel. Photographic evidence later identified Ms Rees as the driver.

She was given a six-month driving ban and sentenced to six months in jail at Plymouth Crown Court on Thursday.

Ms Rees, a psychiatric nurse, told the Devon and Cornwall Safety Camera Partnership that Joanne Aiken, her former sister-in-law and a US resident since 1993, had driven the car.

The case was initially heard in absentia in February 2006. Ms Aiken was found guilty, fined £105 by Plymouth Magistrates' Court, and had her licence endorsed.

The DVLA found Ms Rees had falsified the information when they tried to contact Ms Aikens at a UK address.