Speeding scam: Olivia Flood, 27, feared six points would ruin her chances of driving the school minibus so she came up with the scam . A schoolmistress tried to change the appearance of her car to dodge six speeding points because she was worried they might end her participation in the school's Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. Geography teacher Olivia Flood, 27, was not even facing a driving ban after being caught speeding twice in ten minutes in a 30mph zone. But she feared the points would ruin her chances of driving her pupils in a school minibus to an event in Edinburgh organised by the Royal youth charity. So she dreamt up a scam in which she added GB stickers to her Fiat Punto, fitted a rectangular tax disc holder and added a tow bar holder before claiming it was a different car that had been caught speeding. Flood, who was in charge of Duke of Edinburgh pupils at Siddall Moor sports college in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, sent in photographs of her newly modified car which showed a GB sticker in the rear windscreen and further stickers on the bumper. She urged officials to match it against the vehicle their camera snapped twice in ten minutes travelling at 41mph and the other at 43mph. She hoped her scheme would convince officials that they had instead caught a cloned car speeding. But the DVLA was immediately suspicious and Flood, who is currently 28 weeks pregnant, was arrested. She was later hauled before Manchester Crown Court where she pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. She was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months after a judge said the scam was 'foolish and foolhardy.' She was also ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid work and pay £500 costs. Despite the conviction she is expected to keep her job. Flood's fall from grace began in June last year after headteachers at Siddall Moor where has worked for six years gave her responsibility to organise pupils for Duke of Edinburgh Award Schemes and other outdoor education. At 10.22am on 1 June 2012 her L-registered Fiat Punto was snapped driving at 43mph on Manchester Road, Heywood, and minutes later at 10.32am the same vehicle was recorded travelling at 41mph in the opposite direction. Two speeding tickets were sent to Flood but the following month she called the Central Ticket Office saying it was not her car as she would have been in school at the time and asked for photographic evidence. In August she sent back the two notices along with a letter and three images she herself took of her vehicle along with a copy of a 'signing in and out sheet' from her workplace. In the letter, Flood said that it could not have been her vehicle due to her being at work at the time of the offences. Caught: Flood is clocked doing 43mph in a 30 zone in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in June 2012 . Again: Ten minutes later she is clocked breaking the limit agin, this time driving in the opposite direction down the same road . She wrote: 'There are features of the car which are not present on the photographic evidence I received. My car has had a smaller, silver tax disc holder for around a year. I have a GB sticker in the rear windscreen. My car also has no tow bar cover.' But a search on computer systems for . vehicles of the same registration returned several images from 2, 6, 7 . and 29 June 2012 which showed the Fiat was the same as the vehicle . caught speeding - except without the stickers tow bar, rectangular tax . disc holder. Officers suspected the car's appearance had been deliberately changed and arrested Flood in December last year. Modifications: Flood put a different sort of tax disc (centre) and a GB . sticker on her car (bottom) in an effort to convince the DVLA they had . caught a cloned car speeding. She also made modifications to the front . of the car (top). These pictures are from the Greater Manchester Police dossier of evidence . In . mitigation defence lawyer Mr Gwyn Lewis, said : 'The only reason Mrs . Flood tried to avoid prosecution was because she knew she needed a clean . driving licence to drive the school minibus that takes the pupils to . Duke of Edinburgh locations - an activity which is entirely voluntary. 'Mrs Flood changed the appearance of her car to avoid getting points on her licence, and she was wrong to do that. 'She . did not realise the seriousness of what she did until she was arrested. In those six months since her husband Daniel has described her as . having "daily tears". 'She has become depressed, so depressed that she has considered taking her own life and has been prescribed antidepressants. Scam: Flood was arrested at school and later charged with perverting the course of justice. She pleaded guilty but avoided a jail term . 'The head teacher of her school has given a character reference, in which he has stated that Mrs Flood may keep her job if she does not go to prison. If she goes to prison she will be dismissed and not be able to continue her career. 'Mrs Flood's mother is currently ill with cancer. Mrs Flood is her mother's rock'. Passing sentence Judge Richard Mansell . QC told Flood: 'Let me make this clear: this is an exceptional case and . you have only avoided custody because of the exceptional circumstances. Impeccable character alone is not enough and this an individual case. 'These . types of offences strike at the heart of the whole system, which relies . on the honesty of drivers. Prison sentences invariably follow for this . type of offence. 'You are an exceptionally talented teacher. You have worked at Siddal Moor school for six years. You earn a good salary. 'The . reason why you tried to avoid the charges speaks for itself - you . wanted to continue to be able to take pupils to and from DoE locations. This foolhardy offence was not for foolish reasons. You did this to . avoid embarrassment at school. 'You have shown great remorse since your arrest and you have learned a lesson. Speeding fine: Oliva Flood's car, parked outside her home in Middleton, which she tried to 'modify' so she would be let off the hook for two speeding offences . 'Unlike others who try to get pregnant after their arrest to avoid custody, you were pregnant at the time of the arrest, and your baby is due in August. 'Taking this into account along with the fact that your mother is suffering with acute myeloid leukaemia, you will have your baby in an ordinary way. You will be able to undertake some light community work in the two months before your baby is born. After the case PC Mark Casey, from Greater Manchester said: 'Flood has gone to some quite extraordinary lengths to try and avoid speeding fines. 'This case proves that the consequences of not facing up to motoring offences can be significantly magnified when you try and lie yourself out of trouble. 'While it ties up resources, we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute where we believe serious offences have been committed and I want to highlight this case to send out a stark warning to other motorists.'
Olivia Flood, 27, was caught speeding twice down the same road in the space of 10 minutes .
She tried to convince the DVLA they had photographed a cloned car .
But officials became suspicious and the pregnant teacher was arrested .
Flood is spared jail and is likely to keep her job .
Speeding scam: Olivia Flood, 27, feared six points would ruin her chances of driving the school minibus so she came up with the scam . A schoolmistress tried to change the appearance of her car to dodge six speeding points because she was worried they might end her participation in the school's Duke of Edinburgh award scheme. Geography teacher Olivia Flood, 27, was not even facing a driving ban after being caught speeding twice in ten minutes in a 30mph zone. But she feared the points would ruin her chances of driving her pupils in a school minibus to an event in Edinburgh organised by the Royal youth charity. So she dreamt up a scam in which she added GB stickers to her Fiat Punto, fitted a rectangular tax disc holder and added a tow bar holder before claiming it was a different car that had been caught speeding. Flood, who was in charge of Duke of Edinburgh pupils at Siddall Moor sports college in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, sent in photographs of her newly modified car which showed a GB sticker in the rear windscreen and further stickers on the bumper. She urged officials to match it against the vehicle their camera snapped twice in ten minutes travelling at 41mph and the other at 43mph. She hoped her scheme would convince officials that they had instead caught a cloned car speeding. But the DVLA was immediately suspicious and Flood, who is currently 28 weeks pregnant, was arrested. She was later hauled before Manchester Crown Court where she pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. She was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months after a judge said the scam was 'foolish and foolhardy.' She was also ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid work and pay £500 costs. Despite the conviction she is expected to keep her job. Flood's fall from grace began in June last year after headteachers at Siddall Moor where has worked for six years gave her responsibility to organise pupils for Duke of Edinburgh Award Schemes and other outdoor education. At 10.22am on 1 June 2012 her L-registered Fiat Punto was snapped driving at 43mph on Manchester Road, Heywood, and minutes later at 10.32am the same vehicle was recorded travelling at 41mph in the opposite direction. Two speeding tickets were sent to Flood but the following month she called the Central Ticket Office saying it was not her car as she would have been in school at the time and asked for photographic evidence. In August she sent back the two notices along with a letter and three images she herself took of her vehicle along with a copy of a 'signing in and out sheet' from her workplace. In the letter, Flood said that it could not have been her vehicle due to her being at work at the time of the offences. Caught: Flood is clocked doing 43mph in a 30 zone in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in June 2012 . Again: Ten minutes later she is clocked breaking the limit agin, this time driving in the opposite direction down the same road . She wrote: 'There are features of the car which are not present on the photographic evidence I received. My car has had a smaller, silver tax disc holder for around a year. I have a GB sticker in the rear windscreen. My car also has no tow bar cover.' But a search on computer systems for . vehicles of the same registration returned several images from 2, 6, 7 . and 29 June 2012 which showed the Fiat was the same as the vehicle . caught speeding - except without the stickers tow bar, rectangular tax . disc holder. Officers suspected the car's appearance had been deliberately changed and arrested Flood in December last year. Modifications: Flood put a different sort of tax disc (centre) and a GB . sticker on her car (bottom) in an effort to convince the DVLA they had . caught a cloned car speeding. She also made modifications to the front . of the car (top). These pictures are from the Greater Manchester Police dossier of evidence . In . mitigation defence lawyer Mr Gwyn Lewis, said : 'The only reason Mrs . Flood tried to avoid prosecution was because she knew she needed a clean . driving licence to drive the school minibus that takes the pupils to . Duke of Edinburgh locations - an activity which is entirely voluntary. 'Mrs Flood changed the appearance of her car to avoid getting points on her licence, and she was wrong to do that. 'She . did not realise the seriousness of what she did until she was arrested. In those six months since her husband Daniel has described her as . having "daily tears". 'She has become depressed, so depressed that she has considered taking her own life and has been prescribed antidepressants. Scam: Flood was arrested at school and later charged with perverting the course of justice. She pleaded guilty but avoided a jail term . 'The head teacher of her school has given a character reference, in which he has stated that Mrs Flood may keep her job if she does not go to prison. If she goes to prison she will be dismissed and not be able to continue her career. 'Mrs Flood's mother is currently ill with cancer. Mrs Flood is her mother's rock'. Passing sentence Judge Richard Mansell . QC told Flood: 'Let me make this clear: this is an exceptional case and . you have only avoided custody because of the exceptional circumstances. Impeccable character alone is not enough and this an individual case. 'These . types of offences strike at the heart of the whole system, which relies . on the honesty of drivers. Prison sentences invariably follow for this . type of offence. 'You are an exceptionally talented teacher. You have worked at Siddal Moor school for six years. You earn a good salary. 'The . reason why you tried to avoid the charges speaks for itself - you . wanted to continue to be able to take pupils to and from DoE locations. This foolhardy offence was not for foolish reasons. You did this to . avoid embarrassment at school. 'You have shown great remorse since your arrest and you have learned a lesson. Speeding fine: Oliva Flood's car, parked outside her home in Middleton, which she tried to 'modify' so she would be let off the hook for two speeding offences . 'Unlike others who try to get pregnant after their arrest to avoid custody, you were pregnant at the time of the arrest, and your baby is due in August. 'Taking this into account along with the fact that your mother is suffering with acute myeloid leukaemia, you will have your baby in an ordinary way. You will be able to undertake some light community work in the two months before your baby is born. After the case PC Mark Casey, from Greater Manchester said: 'Flood has gone to some quite extraordinary lengths to try and avoid speeding fines. 'This case proves that the consequences of not facing up to motoring offences can be significantly magnified when you try and lie yourself out of trouble. 'While it ties up resources, we will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute where we believe serious offences have been committed and I want to highlight this case to send out a stark warning to other motorists.'
Geography teacher Olivia Flood, 27, was not even officials that they had instead caught a cloned car speeding. But the DVLA was immediately suspicious and Flood, who is currently 28 weeks pregnant, was arrested. She was later hauled keep her job. Flood's fall from grace began in direction down the same road . She wrote: 'There (bottom) in an effort to convince the DVLA they