Woman fakes death to avoid speeding ticket

**BEB** · 03-05-07, 08:25 PM

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...,00.html?f=rss
It Wasn't Me, I'm Dead
Updated: 15:24, Monday March 05, 2007

A woman who tried to dodge a speeding conviction by claiming she had died in a car crash has escaped prison.

Glenda Askew sent a letter to the Crown Prosecution Service claiming she had "passed away".

Swansea Crown Court heard that the 47-year-old woman panicked and claimed she was dead in a desperate attempt to escape justice.

Askew, who the court was told had been driving illegally on a provisional licence for years, admitted perverting the course of justice when she was discovered alive and well at home during a simple check of her story.

Judge Michael Burr sentenced her to a six-month jail term suspended for 12 months during a brief hearing today.

Earlier he had heard how Askew had sent a letter to the CPS in September 2006 after being summoned for the driving offence.

Brin Hurford, prosecuting, said the letter sent by Askew had been purportedly signed by her daughter Tracy Richards.

It read: "My mother will not be able to attend as she passed away on September 17, 2006. I am going through her personal effects and dealing with her correspondence."

Mr Hurford said that the letter had immediately aroused suspicion and Askew was arrested and charged within a short period of inquiries being made.

Catherine Richards, defending, said that Askew's attempt to evade conviction was "unsophisticated" and "an act of desperation which had only made matters worse".

**Beans** · 03-05-07, 08:39 PM

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of.

**10-42Adam** · 03-05-07, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by beans43

That is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of.

Agreed.

**KaiGywer** · 03-06-07, 12:58 PM

Drop Dead Stupid

**Pedro56** · 03-06-07, 02:12 PM

This bitch must have some serious rocks in her head. Claiming dead over a traffic violation? That is insane.

**Motorwaycop** · 03-06-07, 03:37 PM

She's Welsh, nuff said!

**E-man** · 03-06-07, 06:47 PM

At least she had the presence of mind to sign it under her daughters name. Problem probably was she didnt have a daughter...

**Piggybank Cop** · 03-06-07, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by KaiGywer

Drop Dead Stupid

Pun Police!

**Piggybank Cop** · 03-06-07, 10:15 PM

Originally Posted by KaiGywer

Drop Dead Stupid

Pun Police!

Ps: it was so bad I had to post twice.

**KaiGywer** · 03-06-07, 10:28 PM

Originally Posted by 1sgkelly

Pun Police!

Ps: it was so bad I had to post twice.

You know you laughed

**Jks9199** · 03-07-07, 05:25 PM

I had something like this happen with a bad check case once... I was doing bad check investigation for a department store, and had sent out notice letters on a person. Since they had ignored the notice letters, I got a warrant. One day, I get a call. "I'm so & so's sister; she's died and I'm going through the estate, and found your letter. The estate will pay..." Ok... made a note in the file, tried to verify it a little bit... and that was that, right?

Nope. A couple weeks later, I get a call. Seems a state trooper had served my warrant on the "dead" person!

It got even worse, 'cause she didn't come to court a couple of times. Apparently, she'd been in a car crash, had some fairly serious injuries and medical issues as a result... and went a little off the deep end. The judge got so fed up with her that he finally was going to lock her up, just to be sure she came to court!