Let’s face it, we’ve all had a slap on the wrist and a nominal fine for not taking back a rental video on time… unless you are one of those annoyingly organised people, or were born in the noughties, of course.

But little did you know that this minor misdemeanour could have landed you in far more serious trouble.

That’s exactly what happened to a woman in America, who’s had a run-in with the law all because of an overdue VHS. Yes, a VHS, you know, those fuzzy tape cassette things they used to have (see picture above).

In the defence of the police, watching the film Monster-In-Law ought to be classified as a criminal act in itself, but it’s safe to say that Kayla Michelle Finley had no idea her decision to check the movie out of Dalton Videos would land her behind bars.

Ms Finley rented the Jennifer Lopez rom-com back in 2005 but never returned it to the store, which, like virtually all other video rental firms, has since gone out of business. So when the 27-year-old-with-questionable-film-taste attended her local South Carolina police station for other matters, officers soon uncovered this decade-old warrant for her arrest.

When it transpired that her hearing could not be held until the following day, Ms Finley was forced to spend the night in a cell, CNN reported. She said after the incident: “I’m no criminal, but Pickens County Sheriff’s office sure made me feel like I was.”

Thankfully, the former business owner of Dalton Videos requested the court withdraw the charge so Ms Finley was set loose to roam the streets once again.