A MUM was accused of doing 115mph — in an old banger with a 96mph top speed.

Jenny Healy, 33, got the case thrown out but has been left £950 out of pocket.

Cops said her 1.4litre VW Polo was going at 115mph on the A12 at Kelvedon, in Essex.

Jenny, who was heading home to Ipswich with her six-month-old daughter after a kids’ party, assumed it was a mistake but was summoned to court.

With electrician husband Ged, she paid £1,250 to have the Polo, with 80,000 miles on the clock, tested.

It proved the 13-year-old motor had a top speed of just 96mph – and even if the car had been brand new it would only be able to do 107mph.

The CPS dropped the case but the couple only got £296 in court costs refunded.

Jenny, who is now three months pregnant, said: “I laughed when we saw the original letter because my car was 13 years old and our daughter was fast asleep in the back.

“We were on our way back from a children’s party. There’s no way I would ever have driven that fast, even if my car was capable of doing speeds like that.

"I knew exactly what I was doing on that day and there's no way I was speeding.

“Obviously I was worried about getting points for not filling in the driver details so I sent back the form thinking this would all be dropped.

“But then I got a letter saying I was being taken to court – I just couldn’t believe it. I needed my car for my job.

“We knew the claim was wrong and we had to fight it.

"We got the car tested and it showed its maximum speed was 96mph. The whole thing was ridiculous.”

Husband Ged, 32, also blasted cops, claiming that if somebody who didn't have the money to have their car tested fell victim to the same mistake they would have to accept the charges.

He said: “It’s just a complete joke. My wife gets accused of total nonsense then it costs us £950 to put everything straight.

“That’s not fair. The whole system is weighted towards the police, because if we hadn’t been prepared to pay to fight our case Jenny would have been convicted.

“Basically if you’ve got money you’re OK, but if you haven’t you have to do whatever the police say. It stinks.

“This has left us livid. We have not been able to contact anyone about this, from the point of receiving the initial ‘charge’ to now.

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“We are still confused and in the dark about how such an error or mistake has taken place, not to mention the lack of apology from the stress this has brought to our household.”

An Essex Police spokesman said: “We make no apology for our zero-tolerance approach to speeding.”

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