The 28-year-old woman contacted officers recently to report a burglary at her home at Recreation Grove, claiming that offenders smashed a window to enter the house before stealing jewellery, a Nintendo Wii and other items.
It was later discovered that the window had in fact been smashed weeks previously, and on speaking to the woman she admitted to making a false report so she could claim money for the items from on her home insurance policy.
Detective Inspector Tim Hunt said: “Making a false report can have serious consequences, and not just because of the amount of time it wastes by taking officers away from dealing with genuine inquiries.
“Had the woman pursued her claim and we then proved her report to be false, she would have been committing an offence of fraud by false representation which carries up to 10 years in prison.”
A spokesperson from Swinton, the high street home insurance retailer, said: “Anyone tempted to try and make false insurance claims need to be aware that it’s not just their insurer that may choose to look closely at the case – and that the police take such matters very seriously. In this case the offender got off with a modest fine, but potentially it could have been far worse.”
