A woman faked a burglary to police after her car, driven by someone else, was involved in a collision with a taxi.
Samantha Dougan claimed to police her car was stolen in the raid - allowing the driver of the vehicle to escape "scot-free".
But house-to-house inquiries led officers to find the truth - her Nissan Juke had not been stolen.
A neighbour witnessed the defendant and a man bickering and he got into the driver's side and drove off at speed at 3.30am.
She made the false claim about the "burglary" after a male driver collided with the back of a taxi.
The taxi was stationary with its indicator flashing, near Rosemary Street service station, Mansfield, at 4.55am on December 21, 2019
Nottingham Crown Court heard the taxi was shunted forwards and the driver was left with pain and discomfort in his neck and back.
The driver of the Nissan Juke, the car that belonged to Dougan, drove off afterwards.
The damaged car was found abandoned, insecure and with no sign of the keys and facing the wrong way on one-way Wood Street, Mansfield.
Dougan, 31, of Burnside Drive, Mansfield, went on to plead guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Appearing before Judge Stuart Rafferty QC, he told her on Monday, January 17, the person driving her car at the time of the collision has escaped "scot-free".
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He said he appreciated she was in a difficult position and she panicked, but telling the police her house was burgled was "utterly wrong", added the judge.
He reminded her that perverting the course of justice is a serious offence and she knew perfectly well what was going on.
"Clearly you had been drinking," said the judge. "You say in the pre-sentence report drink had nothing to do with the offence. Forgive me if I disagree".
Dougan left court with an eight-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 18 months, a 12-month community order and 15 rehabilitation activity days.
The judge said she was lucky and "don't lose sight of that" and "don't skip out of here thinking everything is alright. You will have that hanging over you".
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