A nursery nurse lied to police that her car had been stolen after a stranger she met in a nightclub crashed it into two houses, a car and a milkfloat while trying to drive her home.
Tara Madigan, 21, was spared jail today after a judge heard she made the call under pressure and this was completely out of character from “dozens” of references and a heartfelt letter she wrote to the court.
But Judge Shani Barnes told her that although she hoped she would put the incident behind her, she had made several serious errors of judgement leading to a serious offence being committed.
Sentencing her to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, Judge Barnes said: “I accept that this was completely out of character although it demonstrates very poor judgement in a number of events that night.
“Perverting the course of justice is a very serous criminal offence and anything that attempts to undermine the process has to be taken seriously.
“You were very drunk and allowed a complete stranger that you met that night to drive your car and then you allowed him into your home and in the morning between you with him doubt taking the lead you came up with a story.
“The police did come to your home, you did make a full statement and it was only when you were caught out that you realised the game was up because of your mistake of putting it on Snapchat.”
The court heard that Madigan had met Adan Dida in a nightclub on 11 April, where she had become very drunk.
In the early hours of the following morning, she allowed him to drive her Nissan Micra, but it wasn’t long before he crashed it into a milkfloat, then into a house’s front wall, then into the milkfloat again in Windmill Street, Brighton.
The car then crashed again, into a house in nearby Southover Street, where Madigan was injured and got out of the car to try and walk home to Seaford. But Dida managed to start the car again and she got back inside.
Dida then drove the car to Richmond Street, where it crashed with a Toyota Prius before the pair abandoned it.
At about 8am, Madigan called police to report the car stolen. The operator could hear Dida in the background prompting her, the court heard.
Police then went to her home in Grosvenor Road, Seaford, where she made a full statement.
Prosecuting, Francis Lloyd said: “Police were there for a considerable amount of time and took a long statement from her and she maintained her account that the vehicle had been stolen.
“She had a slight injury to her face and she said she had fallen over in the nightclub and banged her face.
“Quite by chance another officer received a social communication on Snapchat, a forwarded message by the defendant which said, ‘When you’re in a car crash and can’t open your eyes, such fun.’
“He immediately realised this might be an admission that she was in the car when it crashed.”
When Madigan was shown the Snapchat message, she admitted she had made up the theft and was charged with perverting the course of justice.
She pleaded not guilty at a hearing at Brighton Magistrates Court on 17 January this year, in the hope that the charge would be dropped to wasting police time.
But the CPS proceeded with the charge of perverting the course of justice and she changed her plea to guilty today.
Defending, Harry McDonald said: “This defendant did take the stop of making the call to the police and maintaining the lie for a short time.
“But when she was confronted with the social media posting, she immediately conceded the lie within that interview.
“Her degree of persistence in maintaining misleading conduct was minimal.
“This contrived allegation of theft was delivered under pressure from Dida and immediately abandoned under pressure from the police in interview.”
He added: “During the call, the operator was concerned that she was being directed because Dida could be heard telling her what to say.
“Dida has been convicted of robbery and recent offences of battery. He was perhaps able to press his interests on her with a degree of force.
“The call was made at her home and she felt a high degree of compulsion to do that.”
As part of the suspended sentence, Madigan must also complete 40 hours of unpaid work, to start once the coronavirus lockdown is over.
