Leeds community police officer locked up with her husband for 'fabricating a crime' over car theft report

Fiona Price, 33, who worked in Leeds as a West Yorkshire Police Community Support Officer (PCSO), appeared at Bradford Crown Court where she was given a three-month prison sentence and fined £1,800 after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Ex-PSCO Price was sentenced alongside her husband, Darren Price, 37, who was also jailed for three months.

The charges related to an incident on August 20 last year, when Fiona Price reported that her vehicle had been stolen from a layby in Burnsall, North Yorkshire.

In a statement given to the police, Price said that she and her family had returned to find the vehicle missing at around 4.30pm.

She reported it to the police from a restaurant at around 6.30pm, after charging her and her husbands’ phones in a friend’s car.

The force said initial enquiries were carried out by an officer from North Yorkshire Police, who had concerns about the legitimacy of the report.

It was then passed on to West Yorkshire Police’s Counter Corruption Unit, after it was confirmed that Fiona Price was a serving police staff member.

Officers later found discrepancies in Price and her husband’s account of what had taken place and the pair were arrested.

Detective Chief Superintendent Nicola Bryar, of West Yorkshire Police’s Professional Standards Directorate, said: “Former PCSO Price has never offered any explanation for her actions.

“Honesty and integrity are fundamental values for anyone working in policing. For someone involved in the criminal justice process to fabricate a crime is simply unacceptable and taken extremely seriously by the Force.”

Fiona Price resigned from her position while under investigation. Following conclusion of this court case, misconduct proceedings will now resume to ensure she is added to the College of Policing’s Barred List, which prevents her from gaining further employment in policing.