Policewomen guilty of crash fraud

A Derbyshire policewoman and special constable have been convicted of deception over an off-duty car crash.

At Stafford Crown Court, Diane Reeves-Emery, 38, and Charlotte Eccles, 23, from Swadlincote, both denied obtaining financial advantage by deception.

Eccles said that she had supported claims that Reeves-Emery, from Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was driving as she was scared of her former lover.

Eccles, a special constable and Reeves-Emery, a Pc, will be sentenced later.

Harassment claim

The court heard that the couple had been arguing when their car hit a kerb in April 2006, causing more than £3,000 of damage.

Eccles was the driver at the time but Reeves-Emery told the insurance company that she had been behind the wheel, halving the excess to £250, the jury was told.

Eccles went along with the claim because she was "petrified" of her violent lover, she told the court.

But Reeves-Emery told the jury she had in fact been driving and had "no reason to lie".

The couple split up up 2007 and it was during a hearing into alleged harassment by Reeves-Emery that the insurance deception came out.