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A 24-year-old woman has been sent to prison for four months after perverting the course of justice by providing false car insurance information to the authorities following a traffic collision.
Eloise Margaret Le Page pleaded guilty to that offence, as well as an additional charge of driving a car without insurance, which saw a punishment of a three-year driving disqualification applied.
Prosecuting Advocate Phoebe Cobb said Le Page was originally involved in a road traffic collision with a cyclist on La Charrotterie on 28 April 2023, with an appearance in the Magistrate’s Court in June for failing to give way which saw a £400 fine and a two-month driving disqualification imposed.
The cyclist sustained a broken collarbone, severe bruising, and there was damage to his electric bicycle.
As part of the investigation Le Page handed over her insurance details to Police, but when the victim attempted to make a claim for his injuries and damages it was discovered that the insurance wasn’t active at the time of the incident.
Police followed up the discrepancy with the insurer which confirmed the policy had been taken out after the collision with no prior record of her as a client. Searches of Le Page's devices found web browsing for “how deeply do police check insurance policies” and other related searches.
Two near identical documents of the insurance certificate were found, but one had an edited commencement date.
Le Page was arrested but denied altering the certificate and was unable to explain the other evidence put to her, Advocate Cobb added.
Pictured: The Magistrate's Court.
Advocate Oliver Fattorini, defending, said Le Page had difficulties expressing herself emotionally and was experiencing anxiety and depression.
He added that she wasn’t acting rationally, and obvious errors were made in the alleged modification of the insurance certificate which meant any attempt by the cyclist to claim would've failed.
Judge Marc Davies rejected this, saying Le Page had admitted to probation that she hoped the modifications would go unnoticed.
“You hatched a plan to cover yourself up... research is not irrational behaviour... this was a deliberate and well thought out attempt to undermine the criminal justice system,” he said.
He called perverting justice “one of the most serious cases this court can deal with” and said a suspended sentence wouldn’t be a deterrent.
Le Page was sentenced to two months in prison for driving without insurance, and a further three months for perverting the course of justice. However, Judge Davies called Le Page back to the dock less than half an hour after sending her down and reduced the sentence by one month.
He said after “reflection” he would reduce the sentence to give her more personal credit but said this didn’t affect his comments about the severity of the offending.
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