Yamahile Ortiz, 18, said her sister, Yariizca, stood in for her because: "I had a final today." Judge Patrick Clifford in Connecticut called the action "a fraud on the court", and asked: "Do you think this is funny? I don't know why you think it's funny."

He told Yamahile, due in court today: "When I put you on probation and expect you to be potentially rehabilitated, that is not the first step toward that."