Blameless woman banned from driving after cousin lied

AN UNINSURED driver lied to police and gave officers the name of her blameless cousin who was wrongly banned from driving at a court hearing she was unaware of.

Bethan Debono, 30, of Barry, was pulled over on two occasions within the space of a few months and claimed her name was Kayleigh Roberts both times.

Her victim only found out about the convictions when she was notified by letter that she had been banned from driving and given 12 penalty points on her licence. When Ms Roberts attended a police station to report the discrepancy the officer who pulled over Debono realised it was not the same woman and identified the defendant on a photo provided by the victim.

A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court yesterday heard Debono was a drug addict at the time of the offences but has since become drugfree.

Prosecutor Jason Howells said the defendant was pulled over on September

3, 2019, in Cowbridge Road East in Cardiff while driving a Fiat without insurance.

She was also caught driving an uninsured Peugeot 206 in St Bride’s Way in Barry on November 4 the same year and the vehicle did not have an MOT certificate.

Debono told police her name was Kayleigh Roberts on both occasions and on January 20, 2020, Ms Roberts received a letter from the DVLA stating she had been banned from the road for driving while uninsured.

She contacted both the DVLA and Cardiff Magistrates’ Court where she had been convicted in her absence. She then reported the matter to the police who confirmed she was not the driver when the offences took place.

The defendant, of Sea Point, Crosshill, Barry, attended a voluntary police interview on March 3, 2020, where she denied being the driver of the vehicles but she later pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.

Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: “What you did was wicked. You pretended to be your cousin, a young woman who was wholly innocent of any wrongdoing...

“As a result of saying you were Kayleigh Roberts she was given notice she had been disqualified from driving having accumulated 12 penalty points but nothing could be further from the truth.

Debono was sentenced to eight months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.

She was also ordered to carry out an 18-month community order, a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work, and to pay courts costs of £585.