A woman who taped a close family friend to a chair as part of a "play-acted" plot to rob them of £25,000 worth of jewellery has been jailed.

Simone Fortune, from Gravesend, conspired with Carlos Lane to rob the man, at his address in Abbey Wood.

The 37-year-old had arranged to visit the victim, who she had known for 14 years, at his house in south east London.

Fortune, of Park Corner Road, Gravesend, attended the address during the afternoon of November 23 with a young female companion as part of a choreographed plot.

Woolwich Crown Court heard how after around 15 minutes there was a knock at the door which Fortune insisted on answering. It was Lane who had been instructed to attend the house.

The pair then acted out a scenario where – unbeknownst to the victim – Lane, 38, grabbed Fortune by the hair and threatened to harm her unless the victim co-operated.

Lane, of Park Corner Road, Gravesend, instructed Fortune to bind the victim to a chair using tape and then began to steal items including jewellery. The total value stolen was over £25,000.

Throughout the ordeal, Lane and Fortune play-acted the scenario leaving the victim fearful for her safety, and that of the child who witnessed what was going on.

Lane then fled the address with two bags, including one which was a distinctive JD Sports bag.

Fortune untied the victim but then said she had to leave to pick up another child.

Police were called and when they spoke to Fortune, she provided a convincing account of what had happened.

However, cracks began to appear in her story under further investigation and using phone records, detectives could see Fortune had travelled to a different location to where she had said.

This included a trip to a service station on the M25 in the hours prior to the robbery.

CCTV showed Fortune’s car there and her meeting another person who was identified as being Carlos Lane.

Fortune’s car returned to the same service station around an hour after the offence, and again she was with Lane.

This time CCTV captured the pair going through the contents of a bag strikingly similar to one of those used by Lane to transport the goods from the robbery.

Officers attended Fortune’s address to execute an arrest warrant and when they arrived, Lane was also present.

Both were arrested and further analysis of their mobile phone revealed messages exchanged between the pair, discussing how they were attempting to sell some of the items they had stolen.

They were later charged with robbery, and Fortune was additionally charged with perverting the course of justice on March 4.

They pleaded guilty to these offences at Woolwich Crown Court and Monday Lane was jailed for five years and three months and Fortune was jailed for a total of four years at the same court.

DC Toks Jegede, the officer in charge of the investigation, said: “Simone Fortune had been a close friend of the victim and his family for over 14 years but she betrayed that trust in the most despicable manner.

“Not only did she manipulate a situation where she and her partner Carlos Lane could carry out a robbery that left the victim understandably terrified, she even exposed a young child to this frightening situation.

“Fortune is an extremely manipulative woman who conspired with Lane to carry out this plan. Both must now spend a significant amount of time in jail which is fully deserved.

“The victim continues to recover from his ordeal with the support of his friends and family, and I would like to commend his strength throughout this investigation.”