Jail for a family whose lies cost police £100,000

Tony Pope, 65, wife Carole Pope, 63, of Lowdell Close, West Drayton, and daughter Elizabeth Garner, 30, of Colham Avenue, West Drayton, were sentenced for perverting the course of justice last Friday.

All three lied to police about seeing convicted killer, Richard Blower, leaving Ms Garner's flat after stabbing father-of-four Mark Yates to death on August 30, 2006.

During the trial at Blackfriars Crown Court Blower, a friend of the family known as Ginger, was said to have attacked Mr Yates, 36, in a drink-fuelled furor after hearing he had made suggestive comments towards Ms Garner's five-year-old son.

All three initially made statements saying they had seen an unknown hooded man leaving the flat.

But after the mother-of-two was arrested for the murder but not charged, she admitted to seeing Blower emerge from the flat with a knife dripping with blood. Three weeks later Blower was arrested in Birmingham and charged.

Harrow Crown Court heard how the family then claimed to be receiving threatening text messages from Blower.

In one incident Mrs Pope claimed to see a figure loitering outside her home, causing police to send a helicopter to scour the area.

But it was after police moved the mother and daughter to a safe house and the pair still received the texts, that officers uncovered they were sending them to each other.

The total cost of protecting the family was said to be £107,000.

A previous trial of Blower in September 2007 was subsequently abandoned. In April he was jailed for 22 years for the murder.

In February Ms Garner pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and perjury and was found guilty of a second count of perverting the course of justice.

Mrs Pope pleaded guilty to one charge of perverting the course of justice and was found guilty of a second. Mr Pope was found guilty of two counts of the same charge.

He was sentenced to three years in prison, his wife 18 months, and his daughter 12 months.

Handing down the sentence, Judge Alan Greenford said: "In order to conceal his (Blower's) involvement you, Anthony Pope, told your wife and daughter to lie. It's my conclusion that you instigated saying it was a man with a hood. Later the family agreed to mislead police again by sending text messages to make it appear as if Blower was threatening Mrs Pope and Ms Garner.

"The result was at one point Richard Blower was arrested for the offence of making threats to kill.

"The investigation was delayed and in respect of the text messages the police were involved in uneccessary enquiries."