prison or no prison?

a friend of mine was due in court for a speeding offence he committed about 3 months ago. his case was supposed to appear at 2.30pm, so when i hadn't got any news by 5, i got a bit worried. i sent an SMS to his girlfriend, who was there with him, to ask how things had gone, but i eventually got an answer from him. it said: 3 months in prison :(

i couldn't believe it. ok, he'd sped by quite a bit, but they'd taken away his license, there was going to be a fine, and he'd already sold his car just to avoid doing it again. then again, maybe that was why it had taken so long. i started imagining him in jail, and thought about what would happen with his jobs, etc. it was a pretty scary thought. just to be sure, i sent a reply asking if he was joking, and just as it was sent, i got another SMS from him saying it was a joke, that he'd only got a fine and 2 months without a license. it was the least important sentence of the whole day, apparently - she really appreciated not being told he had no idea he was speeding, as everyone else had said. however, the judge had made a mistake when sentencing him and had actually said he'd end up in jail. he had to go check with her as she left, and was very much relieved to find out it had just been a slip of the tongue.