The British couple who fabricated a story of being robbed by two gunmen at their Sandy Lane, St James home on February 5 were yesterday jailed for making the false report.
Tululla Sydney Georgia Salvatori, 27, and 41-year-old Edward John Denney pleaded guilty to causing wasteful employment of the police and were each sentenced to nine months imprisonment for the offence.
Salvatori will also spend an additional nine months at Dodds prison after she admitted to Magistrate Barbara Cooke-Alleyne at the Holetown Magistrates’ Court that she had submitted a bounced cheque to a hired car company for the rental of a vehicle.
The court heard how she fraudently obtained the services of the car to the tune of $7 606, knowing she had no money on her chequing account.
The two had reported they were robbed of $2 000 in cash and jewellery worth over $34 million by gunmen at their rented home.
Salvatori and Denney, who originally claimed they were married, arrived in Barbados last May and had paid down over $200 000 for a years’ rental of a house in the upscale neighbourhood.
Their claim of being held up by armed intruders had caused a panic in the district.
Investigators, however, discovered a number of loopholes in their accounts of the alleged robbery, and on being re-interviewed, the couple recanted their stories.
The couple gave their address as No. 89A Station Road, Polgate, East Sussez, reportedly a gated district in England.
Acting Comissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith alluded to the pressure the report had placed on the force, and at a news conference Thursday said his lawmen were committed to the highest standard of investigations.
He also said the robbery report had created fear in the area and had also caused panic among some residents.
(TS)
