WHEN Amanda Legg stood before a Crown Court judge she was convinced her worst nightmare was about to come true in the form of a 12-month prison sentence.

Ashamed of her crime, she had painstakingly made preparations for her family to cope without her before admitting perverting the course of justice.

The enormity of what she had done was sinking in as the daughter of a former police officer contemplated the devastating effect on her family, friends and career.

But the offence that had put the respectable mother and hospital worker in the dock was not one of murder, robbery or arson.

It had all started with a speed camera.

Amanda had "swapped" penalty points with her husband and had been caught.

And now she is determined to warn others that what she initially thought "won't do any harm" has had a crippling effect on her life.

Amanda, 47, had never broken the law before but when she received her fourth speed camera ticket she lied about who had been behind the wheel in order to keep her driving licence.

"I allowed myself to be persuaded that everyone else does it so it won't do any harm'. I knew that what I was doing was wrong but I had no idea how seriously it would be viewed by the courts," she told the Daily Echo.

"I thought that if it was found out I would just get a driving ban or a big fine. I didn't think of the consequences of perverting the course of justice and I was absolutely shocked to discover that I could go to prison."

Amanda, who is training to be an operating department practitioner, and her husband, who pretended he was the driver, both received 12-week suspended prison sentences when they appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court.

But they both know that the offence could easily have put them behind bars, leaving their 18-year-old daughter, Claire, alone at home during her A-levels.

"We did not think about the effect on the rest of our family," said Amanda. "Claire was very worried that we would be sent to prison, we both have elderly parents and our friends have also been affected.

"I still don't know the effect on my career. It could be that when I finish my training I will not be approved under the Health Professional Codes of Conduct because I have a criminal record."

Amanda said her criminal record will stay with her for 10 years and added: "It was so traumatic - I was in a position I never wanted to be in.

"I have always brought my children up to think that it is wrong to lie.

"It is my own fault - I have brought this upon myself. I allowed myself to fall into a trap and I thought that it was only a relatively minor thing but it is not."

Amanda believes she only escaped a jail sentence due to her previous good character and references. "If someone appeared in court without those things they would definitely go to prison," she added.

"I was afraid that they were going to make an example of me because it is a topical issue."

All four of Amanda's speed camera offences recorded speeds of less than 10mph above the speed limit, she said.

One was on the Wessex Way early in the morning of New Year's Day, on her way to work, one outside Kinson swimming pool, the third on Old Wareham Road in Poole and the fourth on a dual carriageway in Poole while taking her daughter to work.

"My speeding points have always been inadvertently obtained," she said. "I am not a habitual, dangerous speeder, I am not a social louse or an immoral skunk or any of the other things I have been called.

"I don't know how many people will take notice of what I have said but if it stops one person from going throught this, it will be worth it."