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.

The invoice had no receipt.

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.”