A TOTALLY innocent man was beaten up and arrested after being falsely accused of burglary by a lying drug user.

Lucy Hanks framed a neighbour of her boyfriend for the burglary at the block of flats where he lived in East Ogwell, leading the victim to attack him and the police to nick him.

The man had nothing to do with the raid on the flat in Tamworth Close but Hanks told both the tenant and the police that she had seen him running from the scene with two bags of shopping.

In fact, one of the missing bags was found in her boyfriend Ziggy Fakih’s flat and she used a stolen debit card to make £140 worth of contactless purchases at four local shops.

Hanks and Fakih were initially accused of the burglary but the charge was dropped when she admitted using the card fraudulently and perverting the course of justice.

She was spared an immediate jail sentence at Exeter Crown Court because she is battling her drug addiction in the hope of being able to resume custody of her two-year-old child.

Hanks, aged 35, of Bitton Park Road, Teignmouth, admitted doing acts tending to pervert the course of justice and fraud and was jailed for 13 and a half months by Judge David Evans.

The judge ordered that charges of burglary against both Hanks and Fakih should lie on file and not be proceeded with.

He also ordered her to undergo nine months of drug rehabilitation and do 30 days of rehabilitation activities. He banned her from going to Tamworth Close or having any contact with Mr Donnelly for three years under a restraining order.

He told Hanks: ‘You put your finger on someone you knew as being the likely burglar of a particular address and as a result he was arrested, spent some time in police custody before being released and was assaulted because you also made your false implications to the burgled party.’

Miss Felicity Payne, prosecuting, said burglary victim William Donnelly returned to his flat on April 8 last year to find his shopping and bank card missing and then saw Hanks, who told him that a neighbour nicknamed Little Anthony had run away carrying two Asda bags.

He called the police and Hanks repeated her lies to officers, leading them to set off in search of the suspect. They spotted him as they gave Mr Donnelly a lift to his mother’s house nearby, where they dropped him off.

 Mr Donnelly ran back and attacked Little Anthony before the police could arrest him, by which time he had a large cut over his eye which needed hospital treatment.

In the meantime, Hanks used the card in local shops before returning with it to Fakih’s house, which Mr Donnelly visited soon afterwards, spotting the card and an Asda bag.

He saw his name on the card but Hanks grabbed it from him and used it to slap him in the face, saying it was hers. He left but called the police to tell them they had arrested the wrong man, who was de-arrested while waiting for treatment in hospital.

Mr Donnelly was later cautioned for the assault.

Miss Evie Dean, defending, said Hanks had spent a month in custody after her arrest and has sought help to overcome a long standing drug problem ever since her release.

She said her sole motivation now is to be able to look after her child and was keen to get help from probation to tackle her drug addiction.