A WOMAN dubbed the 'Angel of Woolwich' for confronting the killers of Lee Rigby avoided a speeding fine - by watching Midsomer Murders.

Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, 54, was clocked at 39mph in a 30mph zone last year.

She initially signed a form admitting her guilt - but claims she only did so without reading the details due to anxiety brought on by witnessing the Woolwich attack.

She claims she later realised she had never been on the A4 in Berkshire where the offence took place - and had been in France at the time.

And during an appeal hearing at Truro Crown Court on Thursday she convinced a judge her car registration number must have been cloned.

Speaking after the case she said she learned of cloning scams after learning about the process on Midsomer Murders just a week before.

She said she watched an episode of the popular crime drama in which a registration number plate was copied and told the court: "Now I know what happened".

Judge Simon Carr upheld her appeal and 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."

Ms Loyau-Kennett, who was praised by Prime Minister David Cameron for her role in facing one of the men who killed fusilier Rigby on the street in London, said after the case she was "relieved."

She said her anxiety had increased significantly since she engaged Michael Adebowale in conversation soon after the attack and earned the nickname of "Angel of Woolwich.

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

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, said she still suffers from severe anxiety and 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 stress levels.

Only when she later attended Bodmin magistrates' court did she realise what she had signed, prompting her to change her original guilty plea.

She told the court: "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."

Speaking after the case, she said: "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."

Following her intervention in Lee Rigby's murder Miss Loyau-Kennett was honoured with several bravery awards.

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

She earlier said: "I suffer from anxiety and stress and it has been getting worse since Woolwich. I have been told I have post traumatic stress disorder, but I get no help."