How a jailed drink driver was able to wipe out her five-year ban with just two emails

Kalpna Copeland's actions meant she was free to drive, despite magistrates banning her from the roads and insisting she should retake her driving test, York Crown Court heard.

Rob Galley, prosecuting, said Copeland was banned after being caught drink-driving for the third time in six years. She was also jailed her for 120 days.

But after she got out of prison, the 37-year-old, who has an alcohol problem, sent the DVLA two emails falsely claiming to be Sam Goozee, clerk to the justices at York Magistrates Court.

In the emails, she told the DVLA the ban no longer applied and had been lifted.

A DVLA employee believed the information - even though it was sent from a Yahoo email address - and removed the ban from her official driving record.

Jailing Copeland for six months, Recorder Tony Kelbrick told her: 'Society must be able to rely on the integrity of the court system.

"It must be able to rely on the fact the courts punish those who offend with the punishment which they deserve and the disqualification you received was clearly deserved.

"People must know that if they do what you did, they will be punished and it will be a sentence of imprisonment."

Mr Galley told the court Copeland had sent the emails from a Yahoo email address, rather than a secure Government email address.

The police were alerted and tracked her down to the IP address of a computer at her brother's house, where she had been staying when the emails were sent.

Copeland, of Carlton, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation. She had previous convictions for drink-driving from 2002, 2004 and 2008. The driving ban had been restored to the records.

John Dunning, mitigating, said his client's offending was all drink-related and she had never got actually got her licence back. He said there was no evidence she had actually driven and her alcohol problem had led to her and her husband separating.