UK NRI policewoman faces jail sentence for four false insurance claims

 

London, Sep. 01, 2007
Satinder paul Singh

NRI policewoman Davinder Gill, 30, of Chessington has been found guilty of falsely claiming she had been robbed and her mobile phone stolen so she could claim on her insurance. She was convicted by a jury of obtaining property by deception following three hours of deliberation. She allegedly made four such false insurance over a three-year period.

Mr. David Elvin, City court Judge while granting her bail on Friday, warned Gill that he was considering 'all options' and adjourned the sentencing for October 09, 2007. Ms. Gill burst into tears as the guilty verdict was read out this afternoon as she was warned she could be jailed.

Kingston Crown Court heard the story:

• Last year, on April 06 at 4pm, Ms. Gill finished her shift at Peckham police station in South London
• With one friend, she drank half a bottle of wine and went to O'Neill's bar in Soho,. She drank numerous glasses of vodka and Diet Coke
• After midnight, she left this bar 80% blind drunk
• As she reached at home in Surrey by taking last train, she realized she did not have her handbag
• She also realized that she did not have her key. She knock the door of her neighbor Sarah Taylor at around 2.20am for help
• She told a neighbor that she had been mugged and need a help.
• With the help of neighbor, she called 999. When police reached, they found that she was smelling strongly of alcohol.
• She told fellow officers that she was robbed of her handbag on her way home.
• Next day, she called her mobile phone company to report her "stolen" Motorola V3. The insurance company gave her a new updated model of phone Motorola V3i, worth £150

After the investigation, the police found that the handbag was handed in to the lost property department at a pub in central London, where she had been drinking that evening. After the recovery of her handbag she accepted she must have been mistaken due to the effect of the alcohol she had consumed.

Quinn Hawkins, prosecutor, said:

• She said she noticed a group of people behind her once she had left the station
• She said that she had either been pushed forward or tripped and then fell on her face
• In a statement given later, "her lie became more detailed."
• This time she said "she saw a white hand grab her bag and then the person running away"
• She said her only injury was a broken finger nail.
• To cover up the fact that she had also lost her police warrant card

In court, Gill denied she made up the mugging to cover up the loss of her Metropolitan Police warrant card.

She said: "I'd lost my warrant card on another occasion and I reported it through the correct procedure. I genuinely believed I had my bag stolen on the way home."

Devinder had denied the charge, but admitted making a further three false claims to get new phones.

She was a constable on the Home Office's High Potential Scheme which offers accelerated chances of promotion.

Davinder Gill, policewoman faces jail sentence for four false insurance claims