Lisa Sudale, 35, of Derbyshire, told police she was having a bath with her boyfriend when he was actually robbing a jewellery store
A gangster’s moll who told police she was having a bath with her boyfriend when he was actually robbing a jewellery store has been spared jail.
Lisa Sudale, 35, of Swadlincote, Derbyshire, told police that she and Junior Laing were enjoying a romantic afternoon together after he was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery.
Sudale was lying – but has been let off with a suspended sentence after a judge ruled she would not ‘cope’ behind bars.
Chilling CCTV captured Laing pointing a shotgun at jeweller Alan Carter, 70, while he raided his shop in Atherstone, Warwickshire, in September 2014.
Laing and an unknown male accomplice hit Mr Carter in the jaw with the butt of the gun before making off with £39,000 worth of watches and jewellery.
Laing was jailed for 16 years after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to rob and having an imitation firearm at Birmingham Crown Court.
Charlotte Caines, 31, who was a getaway driver, was also jailed for eight years for her part in the robbery.
During the investigation, police quizzed Sudale, who was in a relationship with Laing, and she claimed she was with him at home at the time of the robbery.
Sudale told police she and Junior Laing (pictured) were enjoying a romantic afternoon together after he was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery
Chilling CCTV captured Laing (left) pointing a shotgun at jeweller Alan Carter, 70, while he raided his shop in Atherstone, Warwickshire, in September 2014.
Yesterday, Sudale was found guilty of perverting the course of justice following a trial at Warwick Crown Court.
She was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work and told to pay £600 court costs.
Recorder Jacqueline Carey said: ‘Providing a wholly false statement to the police to provide your then-partner with an alibi is viewed extremely seriously by the courts because it undermines the whole course of justice.
‘You knew from when he was arrested and your house was searched exactly how serious the allegation was against Mr Laing. Armed robbery is at the top of the scale.
‘There was a degree of persistence by you. You attended court on Mr Laing’s behalf. You were not called to give evidence, but you were prepared to do so and to continue with your lies.
‘I don’t begin to accept your evidence about your state of confusion or your poor memory. This was a deliberate lie.
Laing (pictured) and an unknown male accomplice hit jeweller Alan Carter in the jaw with the butt of the gun before making off with £39,000 worth of watches and jewellery
Laing was jailed for 16 years after a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to rob and having an imitation firearm at Birmingham Crown Court
‘But I do have concerns about your ability to cope with a prison sentence. In the light of the age of the offence and what I have read about you, I am prepared to suspend the sentence.’
The court heard Laing burst into Gold and Silver Investments jewellery shop in Atherstone with an accomplice.
Alan Carter, who was was threatened with a shotgun during an armed robbery at his shop
Laing smashed Mr Carter in the face before and grabbed valuable items before fleeing in a getaway car driven by Caines.
Ian Windridge, prosecuting, said Ludale tried to cover for Laing by providing police with a written statement claiming she was with him at the time of the robbery.
He said: ‘Miss Sudale was Laing’s significant other, girlfriend, call it what you will, and this case is about what she did in April 2015.
‘On April 5 she made a written statement to the police in which she said Laing was at her home in Swadlincote all day on the day of the robbery, which took place at 2.30 that afternoon.
‘She went into great detail about what they did that day up until she left for an appointment at 4pm.
‘Her statement, if it had been correct, would have given Mr Laing a complete defence.
‘If he was at her home in Swadlincote, he could not have been in a jewellery shop in Atherstone.’
Gold and Silver Investments in Atherstone, Warwickshire, which was targeted in the raid
Laing smashed Mr Carter in the face before and grabbed valuable items from the shop (pictured) before fleeing in a getaway car
But Sudale’s lies were exposed when phone records showed she called Laing when she told police they were having a bath together.
Giving evidence, Sudale, a spiritual healer, said of Laing: ‘I loved him very much. He was sometimes elsewhere. He cheated on me, he kept cheating on me.’
Heidi Kubik, defending, said: ‘When he was arrested she desperately wanted the police to have got it wrong.
‘I ask Your Honour to consider whether there was at least a measure of her allowing her desperate wishful thinking about his innocence to become a fixed idea.’