A woman appeared in court for wasting police time after lying to her mother about losing cash that she was given.
Fiona Stevens, 31, of Keeble Court, Lynn, admitted causing wasteful employment of police at the town’s magistrates’ court on Thursday.
It comes after an event which happened on December 6 last year, when police received a call from Stevens’ mother saying that her daughter had been pushed by someone and her bag, which had cash inside of it, was stolen.
The case was outlined to the magistrates by prosecutor Nicola Lamb, who said an investigation began and Stevens gave a description of the alleged man who stole her bag.
However, when police reviewed CCTV provided by the council, they saw no such incident.
Instead, they saw Stevens alone, throwing her bag to one side and walking away.
Officers also noted that Stevens had put up a Facebook post saying that she had been robbed.
Police said that there was a significant amount of time wasted looking into the alleged theft.
Stevens then confessed to conducting that story and said that she was ashamed of herself.
Ms Lamb said: “There was some significant degree of planning into this, and officers had taken time away from their duties.”
Mitigating was Alison Muir, who disagreed and said: “Actually, there wasn’t a great deal of planning done at all.”
Ms Muir went on to explain: “Ms Stevens was given £180 by her mother. The money was lost, she wasn’t sure how but the money was in her pocket.
“She had no explanation to give to her mother of what had happened.”
Ms Muir explained that Stevens chose to lie to her mother, prompting the police call.
“The worse it got, the bigger the lie got,” Ms Muir added.
“It’s an unusual thing for someone to do.”
Ms Muir then told the court of Stevens’ personal life and told the magistrates that she is “under a lot of pressure”.
“This may have been a cry for help,” Ms Muir concluded.
Magistrates decided to adjourn the case due to Stevens’ mental health difficulties.
She was released on unconditional bail until the next court appearance on July 12.
She was also referred to the probation team for help.
