A Dumfries woman has been jailed for falsely claiming she’d been stabbed in the neck.
Vanessa Dickson, 42, of Rosevale, also received two further prison terms after admitting a drugs charge plus using a man’s bank card and launching a spending spree in the town.
She pleaded guilty at Dumfries Sheriff Court and admitted previous convictions.
Dickson’s solicitor, Vicki Urquhart, told the court that her client had suffered the tragic loss of her partner just three weeks before her case came up and added: “The only way to stop her spiralling completely out of control would be a custodial sentence where she can access some support.”
Dickson confessed to wasting police time on April 24 last year at the town’s Shakespeare Street after falsely stating in a 999 emergency call that she had been stabbed in the neck then refused to provide details.
Depute fiscal, Gemma Hinds, said: “When police traced her she was very upset and at this stage she admitted making up she’d been stabbed.”
She then told the court of Dickson’s offence with a man’s bank card.
Ms Hinds said: “On February 29, 2020, she was having a drink when she began speaking to a man and he bought some drinks using his debit card.
“He didn’t use it again and next morning he woke up to find various transactions at various locations within the town, mostly shops such as B&M, JD Sports, Spar, New Look and some of the charity shops in the town. He reported it to police and after CCTV checks the accused was identified pretending to people where she shopped that she had permission to use the card.”
The goods obtained were food and clothing with a value of £140.
Dickson also pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of class-C drug Etizolam at a flat in Barnraws, Dumfries, on February 27 last year.
Depute fiscal Hinds told the court: “Police searched at the accused’s [former] address and recovered various items including red and white plastic bags – one containing 4,408 tablets worth £793 and another containing 3,126 tablets with a value of £560.”
The jail terms are back to back and Dickson will serve a total of nine months behind bars.
