Trio convicted after judge's suspicions raised by bogus job offer letter
A letter making a bogus job offer which was used in a bid to get a man's tagged overnight curfew lifted by a judge raised suspicion because his hours of work as a trainee car mechanic were claimed to be 8pm to 5am.
A jury took just 30 minutes to convict Matthew Burns, 23, of Bron y Buckley, Welshpool, who had been on bail for affray, and his factory worker mother Amanda Chambers, 46, and stepfather Richard Chambers, 58, of trying to pervert the course of justice.
They were bailed for reports.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard that Richard Chambers, of Clos Glandwr, Newtown, ran the garage and agreed to sign the letter.
Judge Merfyn Hughes QC told them : "It may be you didn't realise how serious this matter was but basically what you did was to essentially lie to the court.
"People who do that are considered to have committed a serious offence."
The judge said Mr Chambers had been talked into signing the letter.
Defence barrister John Hedgecoe said Burns was trying to change and settle down.
Anna Pope, counsel for Mrs Chambers, said there was no gain for her from her involvement. She had no previous convictions.
The jury heard that the letter was sent by the Crown Prosecution Service to the police to be checked out. Mr Chambers told a detective that he was married to Burns's mother.
Prosecutor Simon Rogers said in the summer of 2013 Burns had been on bail for an offence with a 7pm-7am curfew.
He alleged Burns and Mr and Mrs Chambers were involved in producing the letter purporting to offer employment.
Adjourning the case, Judge Hughes warned the defendants to prepare for a prison sentence.
