Mum faked car theft after her drug-dealer boyfriend crashed it fleeing police
A teaching assistant faked the theft of her car in a £6,200 insurance scam after her drug dealer boyfriend crashed it whilst fleeing a police patrol at speeds of up to 80mph.
Mother of one Kirsty Williams, 25, falsely reported her Peugeot 108 as stolen after Ryan Lowe, 23, contacted her to say he ploughed the car into bushes before running off into the night.
Insurers paid out to a finance company which leased the car to Williams but the claim was unmasked as a fake when forensic tests showed traces of Lowe’s blood inside the vehicle.
A search of Williams’ home subsequently found a haul of cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and cannabis worth almost £3,000, as well as weighing scales, cash and a phone linked to her boyfriend’s narcotics racket.
A machete and a cardboard box containing canisters of nitrous oxide were also found.
When quizzed about the car Williams, of Kearsley, Bolton, Greater Manchester said: ‘I don’t have one, something to do with Ryan. He borrowed it and crashed it.’
She later admitted speaking to him during the chase and begging him to pull over. She said Lowe told her to report the car as stolen and she insisted she had nothing to do with any of the drugs recovered.
Former amateur rugby league player Lowe insisted he was only dealing to pay off his own drug debts and said he had been threatened with violence by gangsters. The couple, who have a four year old child together, have since split up.
At Bolton Crown Court Williams pleaded guilty to fraud and perverting the court of justice and was sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for 12 months.
She was also fined £600, ordered to pay £4,597.90 in compensation and attend 10 days of rehabilitation with the probation service.
Father of two Lowe, from Swinton, Salford pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply cocaine, MDMA, cannabis, THC and ketamine and being concerned in the supply of cocaine and dangerous driving.
He was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, and was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of rehabilitative activity with the probation service. He was banned from driving for two years and will have to take extended retest before he can get his licence back.
In mitigation for Williams, defence counsel Estelle Parkhouse said: ‘She was 21 at the time of the offence and is now 25. She acted impulsively and was influenced by others and it is perhaps indicative of her own naivety at the time.
‘But her life has changed considerably since the young lady who committed these offences four years ago. The profession has chosen, is a profession that requires dedication and hard work and is something she is keen to pursue.
‘The stress of these proceedings and awaiting her fate have borne very heavily on her mind. She has learned her lesson. She is not someone who will appear before the court again.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.