A woman who lied about her car being stolen to cover for her partner was lucky to avoid going to prison, according to a judge this week.

Lauren Greenan, of Chapmans Crescent, Chesham, received an eight-month suspended sentence after being convicted of fraud and perverting the cause of justice at Aylesbury Crown Court on Monday.

At 6pm on October 22, police received a report that Greenan’s car, a VW Polo, had crashed in Hivings Hill, Chesham, and three men were seen fleeing from it.

Greenan subsequently reported that her car had been stolen from outside the Day One shop in Asheridge Road in Chesham earlier that day.

And on November 3, she told her insurance company that her car had been stolen and made a claim of theft of the vehicle.

But through enquiries, Police established that Greenan’s account was not true and she was arrested on November 9 on suspicion of perverting the course of justice and fraud.

During the interview, Greenan admitted that, following the crash, she had received a phone call from her partner stating that he had just crashed and had fled the scene.

She then created the false account to cover for him.

DC Austin Parry, of Taplow Local Area CID, said: “I am satisfied that Greenan has been brought to justice having deliberately deceived the police with her false account, which wasted a great deal of precious police time.

“Her false allegation nearly resulted in the arrest of an innocent man.

“Greenan maintained her fictitious account and only showed remorse some two-and-a-half weeks later when she was arrested.

“When considering the sentence, Judge Sheridan said that he was reluctant to send a new mother to prison.

“He said the case bore many similarities to the case of Chris Huhne, and reminded Greenan that the MP was given a custodial sentence, and that she was fortunate not to receive the same.”

Greenan, who was charged on December 7, was sentenced to six months in prison for perverting the course of justice and two months for fraud, suspended for 12 months.