A pub worker who crashed her mother’s car lied to police that the vehicle must have been stolen in a burglary.
Learner driver Rose Bellerby had a row with her boyfriend at a birthday celebration.
She then phoned fellow pub employee Matthew Trapp in a distressed state and he drove to her home to comfort her, Worcester Crown Court heard.
But as they drove back to Trapp’s home in a two-car convoy, Bellerby crashed the Honda Civic into a road sign on the A4137 at Peterstow and abandoned it.
Trapp then gave her a lift back to his home in his own mother’s Rover, for which he was not insured. Both lied to police but confessed a day later that the burglary story had been concocted.
Prosecutor Stephen Davies accepted that the cover-up was done to “avoid the family consequences” rather than to mask her driving offences.
Bellerby, aged 19, of Georgia Cottages, Llangarron, near Ross-on-Wye, and 22-year-old Trapp, of Wilson Brook, Glewstone, near Ross-on-Wye, pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Bellerby also admitted using the Honda without insurance, driving without a licence and failing to report an accident.
Trapp further admitted driving a Rover without insurance.
Judge Alistair McCreath said the cover-up was “an attack on the system of criminal justice”. But Bellerby’s motivation had been “to avoid the displeasure” of her family.
The judge added: “This was the impulsive act of two foolish young people who didn’t think through the consequences of what they were doing. They came to their senses next day.”
He sentenced both defendants to three months custody, suspended for two years, and ordered them to each do 240 hours of unpaid community work.
Bellerby was also fined £450 and Trapp £300 with a six-month driving ban under totting-up. They must each pay £350 court costs.
Lynette McClement, for Bellerby, said: “She didn’t fear the legal consequences but was concerned about upsetting her parents. This was a lapse on the part of an otherwise law-abiding you-ng lady.
Tim Sapwell, for Trapp, said he was a very caring man, sometimes to his own detriment.
