A teaching assistant faked the theft of her car after her drug dealer boyfriend wrecked it in a crash while fleeing from police. Kirsty Williams, 25, falsely reported her Peugeot 108 as stolen after Ryan Lowe, 23, ploughed it into bushes while on the run.
Insurers initially paid out to a finance company which leased the car to Williams - but the pair were found out after forensic examination revealed Lowe's blood inside the car. Officers searching his home later found a haul of cocaine, MDMA, ketamine and cannabis worth almost £3,000 as well as weighing scales, cash, and a phone linked to his narcotics racket.
At Bolton Crown Court, Williams pleaded guilty to fraud and perverting the court of justice and was sentenced to to ten months in prison, suspended for 12 months. 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.
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The court heard how, when quizzed about the car, Williams, of Kearsley, Bolton, said: ''I don’t have one, something to do with Ryan. He borrowed 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, the court heard.
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.
The investigation into the couple began after officers followed Lowe when they saw him driving Williams' car along the A666 Bolton Road in Swinton at 9.55pm on February 4 2020.
Prosecuting, Miss Katie Walden said the vehicle 'failed to stop' after police activated their emergency lights, and a pursuit then ensued. "The Peugeot was spotted overtaking other vehicles on the opposing carriageway at speeds of 80mph on the 30mph road," she continued. "It proceeded through red traffic lights before crashing into bushes at the side of the road."
The court heard how Lowe then fled on foot and the vehicle was recovered. "On that same day, at 10.21pm, Kirsty Williams contacted the police informing them that her vehicle had been stolen by an unknown person," Miss Walden said. "When officers came to her house, she said she had been in the shower with her front door unlocked and during this time her car was stolen.
“She told officers that she suspected it was stolen by someone who was quite prolific in the area, though due to DNA being lifted from the vehicle officers did not record the name.
"During subsequent forensic examination of the Peugeot, a swab of fresh blood was recovered and the DNA profile matched Ryan Lowe. Additionally, cell-site data of a recovered phone shows Mr Lowe’s phone being on the route taken on 4 February during the chase.''
On February 7 2020, Williams called Aviva insurance to make a claim for the vehicle was processed and PSA finance were paid out £6201. Upon finding the claim to be false, Aviva contacted salvage car auction firm Copart to sell the Peugeot and it was sold for £1939.50 leaving the insurers with a loss of £4597.90.
Police later raided Williams’s home on May 8 2020 and arrested her the following July. Miss Walden added: ''She was asked if she had a vehicle, to which she responded, ‘I don’t have one, something to do with Ryan. He borrowed and crashed it.’
“An investigation of her call logs shows ingoing and outgoing calls to Mr Lowe around the time the vehicle was being reported stolen to the police, and after it had been taken by him. Miss Williams offered a full account in interview, explaining that she was no longer in a relationship with Mr Lowe but had been at the time. He is the father of her child.
“She initially stated she did not know he had taken her vehicle, but conceded she had spoken to him during the chase and begged him to pull over. She states that he told her to report the car stolen after he had crashed it. She stated she had nothing to do with any of the drugs recovered. Mr Lowe made no comment to all investigatory questions.''
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.''
For Lowe, of Kestral Avenue, Salford, defence counsel Hugh Barton said his client had ADHD and added: “It meant he was vulnerable to being manipulated but his circ*mstances are radically different now to when he committed these offences. He is trying to be a good father to his two young children. He is drug free, stable, he is being the best parent he can be.”
Sentencing Judge Elliot Knopf told Williams, of Heywood Street, Manchester: ''I have noted references from various people who speak so very highly about you and your work, what you do in the community, which makes it all the more surprising that you find yourself before the court.
“But I am prepared to accept that you got yourself involved in something, that once it was started you could not get out of or did not get out of. You made a claim to the insurance company yet whilst you yourself did not receive any benefit from that you now have to face the financial consequences.''
