Alison Quanbrough (pictured), 56, kicked her boyfriend out of the house as soon as she found out about his lies
A Crown Prosecution Service lawyer has been cleared of trying to help her boyfriend dodge a £100 speeding ticket.
Alison Quanbrough, 56, personally telephoned traffic officials threatening to complain about them after her boyfriend received the parking ticket.
But the jury accepted during her trial that she was not involved in a cover-up.
Michael Thomas, 63, had been caught driving at 83mph on the M6 motorway but rather than pay the fixed penalty notice he filled in a form falsely claiming a fictitious man from the Irish Republic was driving his car.
The father of two had been told by a colleague that police would be powerless to pursue motorists living outside the UK.
He also wrongly claimed he had loaned his vehicle to a ‘Joe Staughton from Eire’ during a golf event.
But officers suspicious of Thomas’s account examined a photo showing him at the wheel of Mercedes at the time it was caught speeding.
They also obtained information from a hotel in Aberdeen where Thomas checked in on the day of the offence.
It emerged his then partner Quanbrough had personally telephoned traffic officials quoted her job title and subsequently threatened to complain about them – claiming they were being ‘unprofessional.’
Michael Thomas (left), 63, had been caught driving at 83mph on the M6 motorway but rather than pay the fixed penalty notice he filled in a form falsely claiming a fictitious man from the Irish Republic was driving his car. His partner Alison Quanbrough (right), 56, had phoned traffic officials personally after Thomas received the ticket
At Manchester Crown Court, Thomas, from Fleetwood, Lancs, admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed for three months.
Miss Quanbrough, from Blackpool, Lancs, was cleared of aiding and abetting Thomas at an earlier hearing but is no longer working for the CPS.
The couple have since split up.
Sentencing Thomas, Judge Anthony Cross QC told him: ‘This is a bad example of this type of offending. The prosecution are right when they say that this was a deliberate act from the outset that persisted for many months.
‘You are a man of good character who I have absolutely no doubt has made a positive contribution to society.
‘All the character references I have had speak highly of you.
‘It’s true that the sentence I must pass will have an effect on your mother, but I am satisfied that this is not an exceptional circumstance as your daughter from time to time looks after her.
‘So, I am afraid that a custodial sentence must follow.
‘People should know that, when they read this case, that jail is where you go when you pervert the course of justice.’
The investigation began after Thomas was caught by a speed camera near Carlisle on April 29, 2015 while driving his Mercedes to a business meeting in Scotland.
Thomas had a history of previous speeding offences but at the time of the incident he only had three points on his driving licence and did not face a road ban.
Prosecuting, Miss Kyra Badman, said: ‘A form was sent to address where the car was registered but the form was completed and returned on May 8 where he said the driver was Joseph Staughton and that his address was in the Republic of Ireland.
‘He lied in an attempt to pervert the course of justice and believed that if he nominated a driver who lived in a different country then the police would be powerless to pursue the speeding offence.
‘He says that one of his colleagues had mentioned the existence of a loophole and he decided to take a gamble without giving it too much thought.
‘However, the police were not satisfied with the description of the person and asked him for more details.
‘He kept this lie up for several months. On May 26, he asked for more time and then on June 1 he replied to the police and said that he wasn’t able to supply the details of the driver.
‘On August 8, the police sent another letter saying that the matter was outstanding, but he still did not admit it was him.
‘Then, on October 20 2015, he was arrested for perverting the course of justice. He continued to say that Joseph Staughton was real in a statement and did a no comment interview.
‘This was a deliberate act from the outset, through a series of letters, from the outset to pervert the course of justice and it persisted for many months.
‘He sought help from Alison Quanborough, although the jury accepted that she was not involved.’
Thomas (pictured), a father of two, had been told by a colleague that police would be powerless to pursue motorists living outside the UK
Police seized Thomas iPhone which showed a text from him to Miss Quanborough saying ‘I have a sh*tty letter from the police, I will show you when you come home.’
At her trial Quanbrough – a former council contract lawyer who became a prosecutor on the Fylde Coast for 2006 – said Thomas initially told her that he believed he had been the driver.
She made enquiries about him going on a Speed Awareness course but she said he then told her someone called ‘Joe’ had been driving it on the day and she mistook him to mean his ex-wife Jo Andrews.
She told the jury: ‘I would not have risked everything for my partner getting three penalty points and a fine. I know he only had three points and I know he would not be disqualified for doing 83 in a 70.
‘I knew Michael had three penalty points when we started the relationship – we both decided we would be honest with each other.
‘I said we have got to be truthful with each other, no lies. I trusted him and he said he would never let me down. I trusted him, I loved him.
‘If I thought he was up to something he would have been out and out a long time before I booted him out. As soon as I found out the truth he was out.’
Thomas said: ‘I’ve asked myself a million times why I did it. I don’t know whether I was being a smart arse, I don’t know why I did it. Nobody told me to do it. Nobody encouraged me to do it – I was just informed about this loophole.’
In mitigation defence counsel Peter Kennedy, said: ‘He cannot understand now why he kept lying when he could’ve just said that it was him driving, but he didn’t.
‘He was advised unhelpfully and wrongly that by a colleague, who he only knows as Charlie, that this was a way of getting around the problem of a speeding ticket.’
‘He is incredibly sad and expresses regret for his behaviour. The relationship with Alison Quanborough has broken down and it was one which lasted a long time.
‘The person that will be most affected by his actions is his mother who he lives with at the moment. The implications on his family will be considerable. His mother cannot manage on her own and she is not in good health.
‘He has never been unemployed and has worked in advertising for some 27 years, working for just three companies.
‘He has never been in trouble before; this is a man who has led an utterly blameless life.
‘He just sadly didn’t accept what he had done and didn’t realise he would end up in crown court.’