Woman receives $900 fine for speeding and misleading police with excuse of friend suffering a heart attack

A woman who lied to police about her friend having a heart attack to try to get out of a speeding ticket has been fined $900 after officers followed up her fake excuse. Anne Patricia Devenish, 67, was pulled over by police while travelling through Bridgetown on July 4 after they caught her going 104km/h in an 80km/h zone. When police asked her to explain why she was going more than 20km/h over the limit, the woman said she was heading to Denmark Health Service to see a friend who had just suffered a heart attack. Police took the personal information of her friend, who lived in Walpole and had supposedly been transported to Denmark Health Service, before allowing Devenish to continue on her way. Later that day Bridgetown Police contacted hospitals in Denmark, Albany, Bunbury, Busselton and Perth regarding the information they received from Devenish but could not find any record of a heart attack victim being admitted. Police went a step further and contacted St John Ambulance branches in both Walpole and Denmark but they too had no record of anyone having a heart attack. Public defender Gemma Horstman told the court the woman “did not make up this story to get out of the ticket” but rather misunderstood when her friend said she was going to Denmark Health Service and panicked. She argued Devenish suffered from severe anxiety and was racing down to check on her friend, whom she truly believed was suffering a serious heart episode. Magistrate Michelle Pontifex took into account her mental health but said it was not a free pass to break the speed limit. Devenish was issued a $400 fine for speeding and was also issued a $500 fine for misleading police.