A WOMAN appealed her speeding fine after finding out about car cloning during an episode of TV drama Midsomer Murders.

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, from Bulwark Road, Helston, told a hearing at Truro Crown Court that she was in France when the offence took place in Berkshire, on October 3 last year.

"Having seen Midsomer Murders I realised that "la doublette", as it's called in France, sometimes happens to expensive cars. That's what must have happened to me - the lighting in the picture of my car made me think it had been photo-shopped," she told the Packet after her court appearance last Thursday.

During the hearing, Ramsay Quaife, prosecuting, said that her car had been clocked doing 39mph in a 30mph zone in Thatcham on October 3.

On October 12, Miss Loyau-Kennett then returned a 172 notice to the court, acknowledging that she was the driver at the time.

Miss Loyau-Kennett, defending herself, explained that she suffers from severe anxiety caused by "verbal and physical abuse" that she receives in Helston.

She said that on the day when she received the form, a visiting helper to her home had told her to sign and send back the form immediately, to reduce her anxiety.

Only when she later attended Bodmin magistrates' court did she realise what she had signed, prompting her to change her original guilty plea to one of not guilty.

"I was in France from September to November - I go there every year to help a family who has an autistic child. I like to help them because I am autistic myself. I have never, ever been on that road, I only ever go to visit my children in London and I don't have to go on a road that far north," she said.

When asked under oath by Judge Carr if she had any evidence of being in France, she was unable to produce any documents.

He asked if she had a ticket from her ferry to France, or if she had proof of changing sterling to Euros, or any evidence of using her bank cards whilst she was abroad. She was unable to provide any of them.

After a brief adjournment, Judge Carr said: "We are unable to remove from our minds the possibility that she was not the driver. The compelling, consistent way in which she has explained it has left us with a doubt and therefore the appeal is allowed."

Back in 2013, the Packet exclusively revealed that Miss Loyau-Kennett was "threatened" with arrest after police were called to a disturbance at her home.

An ambulance had been called to Mrs Loyau-Kennett's home after she briefly collapsed following the altercation with police. She had said it started after she went outside to speak to three local youths but denied she was threatening or aggressive.

Other residents said tensions had been rising in recent days because of Mrs Loyau-Kennett's opposition to a community playground.

Earlier that year, she had became a national treasure after intervening to help police called to the Woolwich murder of Lee Rigby. She has subsequently been honoured with bravery awards.

She was dubbed “The Angel of Woolwich” after she jumped off a bus to confront two men later accused of killing the soldier.

Photographs of her talking with man holding a meat cleaver were flashed around the world.

“I suffer from anxiety and stress,” she told the Packet five years ago, “and it has been getting worse since Woolwich. I have been told I have post traumatic stress disorder, but I get no help.”