"All this just over speeding... it's so stupid": Woman bursts into tears as she faces judge for doing 45mph in a 30 zone and trying to dodge getting 3 points on her license

A woman wept as she was spared jail for trying to dodge getting three points on her driving licence when she was caught speeding in her Land Rover - as a judge branded her actions 'stupid'.

Businesswoman Debra Picken did not face disqualification after being caught in speed trap driving at 45mph in a 30mph zone in June 2021. But Chester Crown Court heard how she went to elaborate lengths in a bid to avoid having her licence endorsed.

Over a two-year period, the 53-year-old, from Warrington, denied it was her Land Rover and gave a false alibi. Just four days after she was clocked, she paid to have the registration number on the car changed.

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Picken also placed an animal paw sticker on her vehicle to make it appear it was a different Land Rover to that caught on the speed camera. She falsely claimed to have witnesses who would testify to her being elsewhere at the time, the court was told.

Police eventually exposed Picken's lies after JPs convicted her in her absence of failing to provide documents and she went back to court to get the decision reviewed. She later claimed she had 'brain fog' and blamed her behaviour on anxiety issues.

Earlier, prosecutor Ryan Rothwell said Picken, who was company director of a property management firm, had been caught on a hand held camera by a PCSO driving her Land Rover at 45mph in a 30mph on Knutsford Road, Latchford at 8.50am on June 9, 2021. The Land Rover was afterward captured on ANPR cameras in the Warrington area, and then at 9.15am on the M62.

Officers subsequently sent a section 172 notice on June 14 requesting details of the driver, which was not replied to and a reminder letter was sent out on July 13.