Woman jailed for pretending to be cousin

File photo / NZ Herald

A young woman who faked the identity of her cousin throughout an entire court process in a bid to escape a drink-driving conviction has been jailed for perverting the course of justice.

The ruling was a visible shock for Chanel Stevens, 24, who held her hand to her face and cried into it as Judge Robert Wolff explained his sentence in Tauranga District Court yesterday.

Her mother also exclaimed from the public gallery, weeping and sniffling into her hands.

The court heard Stevens was caught over the limit when she was stopped at a Tauranga checkpoint.

She gave police her cousin's name - and continued to identify herself as her cousin throughout the night and during the subsequent court process, resulting in her cousin receiving a conviction she knew nothing about.

Judge Robert Wolff said it was not until Stevens' cousin received a letter from Work and Income referring to the drink driving conviction that the lie was revealed. The cousin rang police and Stevens was arrested.

Judge Wolff said the penalty for the offence needed to reflect the seriousness of misleading those people who worked to uphold justice.

Home detention, which appeared to be what the accused was expecting, was not viable, Judge Wolff said. An initial sentence of 12 months in prison was reduced to six because of an early guilty pleas and Stevens' lack of previous convictions, he said. The sentence included penalties for the drink driving charges, which will be served concurrently.