Woman tries to escape speeding ticket with unfathomable lie.
A woman blamed a dead man after being caught speeding. Eileen Metcalfe returned forms to authorities stating her deceased friend, David Hughes, had been driving the vehicle at the time of the offence.
The 55-year-old Teeside resident was captured doing 36mph in a 30mph zone by a speed camera near her home and faced a total ban due to already having nine points on her licence.
Police followed up on the information provided by Metcalfe, but became suspicious when the speeding ticket sent to Mr Hughes’ address was returned by the new tenant. Investigations led back to Metcalfe, who was later charged with perverting the course of justice. She pleaded guilty.
In court, Metcalfe explained that she had confused the form for the speeding ticket with documents for ordering a commemorative urn for Mr Hughes.
Recorder Graeme Cook, the judge presiding, indicated to Metcalfe that she would not be locked up if she pleaded guilty. She duly obliged.
His compassion later dwindled after he was made privy to the Probation Service report, in which Metcalfe initially admitted that it had been a prank, saying she thought Mr Hughes’ family would “find it funny”. Mr Hughes died suddenly at the age of 26 in 2009. The judge said he ‘felt like changing his mind.’
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of people shifting the blame to someone else after being caught speeding. No one will forget the highly-publicised scandal after politician Chris Huhne’s ill-conceived decision to get his wife, Vicky Pryce, to claim responsibility for speeding, a move which later landed them both in jail.
Then there’s this guy whose facial hair gave him away when he tried to blame his mother.
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