Blackpool woman jailed at Preston Crown Court for stitching up ex with 'gun threat' lies after break-up

Allicja Smith sent officers a photograph of a revolver she claimed her former partner kept at home in an attempt to get him arrested.

But after police broke down his front door and raided his house they discovered the picture had been copied from Google, a judge in Preston was told.

Smith, of Windsor Avenue, Blackpool, was given a 14-month prison sentence after she admitted concocting the story to get back at the man after they split up following a relationship lasting just four weeks.

The 20-year-old appeared at Preston Crown Court by video link from Styal Prison where she is currently on recall for a previous suspended sentence for two robberies at knifepoint in Burnley.

Judge Richard Gioserano told her the starting point for perverting the course of justice was four years, but he would show leniency because she was an “immature and vulnerable” offender who had suffered an appalling childhood.

He told her: “It gives a judge no pleasure at all to sentence someone so young. It is all the more concerning in your case because of all that I know about you.

“It was utterly irrational behaviour. I can’t understand for the life of me why you turned on this man so suddenly. Your relationship was very short.”

The court was told Smith, who was 19 at the time, had been given a two-year suspended prison sentence just five days before she committed the offence.

Ms Mercedeh Jabbari, prosecuting, said Smith contacted police on the evening of February 13, 2023 saying she had been contacted by her 26-year-old ex-boyfriend to go to his house near Ramsbottom to pick up the rest of her belongings following their split three months earlier.

At the house she claimed she had seen a handgun on the bed, had picked it up and had taken a photograph of it. She alleged the man came into the bedroom, saw what she was doing, picked up the firearm and pointed it at her head saying: “Move and I’ll shoot you.”

She said she managed to escape from the house and called her father to pick her up nearby. She also told police she had previously suffered violence at the hands of the man. She gave her name at the time as Lacey Harrison.

A detective who visited her address to follow up on the allegations asked to see the photograph of the gun which she showed him on her phone. From the information on the phone the officer noticed it was a screenshot and not a real image.

When he questioned her further she became flustered and scrolled down her phone trying to find the original, without success. At that point she became “confrontational and aggressive,” said Ms Jabbari.

She shouted at the officer: “Get out of my house. F***ing detectives – you think you know everything. Get out!”

The ex-boyfriend later handed himself in to police after hearing they were looking for him. He was held in cells for a lengthy period while enquiries were made.

He said he had not been at his house at the time she claimed she visited and phone records showed he was in the Haslingden area while she was in Blackburn, proving the alleged gunpoint threats could not have taken place.

He told officers the allegations had an impact on him. He had been arrested and kept in custody for “a substantial amount of time.” Police had forced entry into his home and damage had been caused to the door. His dog had also been taken into kennels while he was under arrest.

“He had done nothing wrong,” said Ms Jabbari. “He found the entire ordeal to be upsetting and worrying and he had no idea why she had made it up.”

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The court heard Smith, who had previously lived in Burnley and Blackburn, had been given a chance with a suspended sentence in February 2023 instead of an immediate prison term for two robberies.

She and an accomplice had grabbed a 16-year-old boy in Burnley town centre and put a knife to his throat demanding money and a phone. Later that same day they did the same to a 20-year-old man nearby.

Just five days after being handed a suspended sentence at Burnley Crown Court for those offences she made up the story to police about the handgun.

Her defence barrister Sharon Watson told the court at Preston: “Some would say she was gifted that suspended sentence. She is still only 20 years of age and no-one would like to see a young woman whose life has been blighted by the way it has serving a lengthy period of custody.”

She said Smith knew she was facing a prison term and she urged Judge Gioserano to impose the minimum sentence possible in the hope she could get multi-agency support when she was released.

“Miss Smith is both an offender and a victim,” she added. “She exhibits self-destructive behaviour. She used to have crack cocaine just to get out of bed in a morning.

“Given the miserable childhood and upbringing she has had, suffering sexual and physical assaults, her addiction issues and an utter lack of stability in her life, she has tried to kill herself three times.

“She can’t seem to stop hurting herself. In prison she has been on 24/7 suicide watch. She has made it plain that she doesn’t want to live, it’s as simple as that.

“Since her remand not one family member has contacted her or visited her. She has no friends. She is literally alone at 20. It is very, very sad.

“On her release (from prison) focus will be made on getting her accommodation. Her mental health issues are going to be addressed and there will be a multi-agency approach. People are going to do their very best to make sure that when she walks out of the prison gates she has some hope.”

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Judge Gioserano asked Ms Watson: “Why did she do it?” The barrister replied: “I have absolutely no instructions on that. She is very sorry, she has said that. A four-week relationship is neither here nor there.

“She has said: ‘I don’t know. I don’t remember any of it. I’m just very sorry.’

“But while it was planned it lacked any sophistication because the police looking at her phone could see it (the photo) couldn’t be right.”

Sentencing Smith to 14 months in prison the judge told her: “The offence alleged against this innocent man was serious and it had serious consequences for him, including time spent in custody.

“The starting point for this offence is four years in custody. But I then have to take into account a number of mitigating factors. Your age - at 19 (at the time) it can’t be said that you were then, or now, a mature young adult. You are clearly, and I don’t mean this to insult you, in many ways immature and you are vulnerable.

“It is no surprise given the life experiences (you have had) which you deal with as best you can, You have a number of mental health issues, most of which go back to your childhood, most of it spent in care. You have (also) compounded those mental health difficulties with drug abuse.

“(It was) only five days before you received your suspended sentence, which makes your behaviour even more irrational.

“I can only hope Allicja Smith that on your next release things go better for you.”