At Doncaster Crown Court last week, the police displayed the equipment 31-year-old Nichola Jane Underwood used to produce counterfeit £20, £10 and £5 notes, including two scanner printers. Except for the paper they were printed on, the notes were exact copies of genuine currency.

According to a report in Yorkshire's The Star newspaper, the court was also shown the fake notes, which judge Recorder Jonathan Gibson described as at the "amateurish end of the counterfeiting spectrum", but added that the crime was serious and the £20 note might be thought genuine "at a glance".

Underwood, who is pregnant with her sixth child, pleaded guilty to three charges of counterfeiting and was imprisoned for eight months. She has previous convictions for dishonesty, theft and possession of drugs.

The judge told the woman that he would be failing in his public duty if she were not jailed.

In June and July last year, Underwood faked at least four £20 notes, 13 £10 notes and six £5 notes.

Her crimes came to light when she used four £20 notes at the Cancer Research Shop in Doncaster town centre. Prosecutor Heidi Cotton explained how the notes were accepted by a junior member of staff, but Underwood's plot was foiled when a supervisor came to remove cash from the till.

The following day, police raided Underwood's flat and found the remaining notes and counterfeiting paraphernalia, including the scanner printers, foil to fake the metal strips found in banknotes and a craft knife to cut the notes down to size.

Underwood was arrested, but denied any involvement. She later handed herself into the police station, admitting responsibility.

"She said she had made them because she was bored and had little else to do," Cotton said.

Defender Guy Wyatt said that Underwood had a difficult personal history and explained that her five children had been taken into care or were living with their grandmother. He added that she had had a very stressful time and that this was a case where sentence should be suspended.

The judge ordered that the equipment used to fake the notes be destroyed.