by Julia Roberts

A Gillingham woman who sparked a county-wide armed police alert after she falsely reported she was the victim of a car-jacking was jailed for 10 months today.

Regina George, 50, claimed she had been robbed of her £24,000 Mercedes C Class hire car at gunpoint in the town in November last year.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that all armed officers on duty in Kent were alerted and given authority for weapons to be deployed.

However, examination of CCTV cameras found no evidence of a car-jacking and it was discovered that George, of Lawrence Street, had stolen the car herself and sold it.

George, a hospital auxiliary, originally denied theft and perverting the course of justice but then pleaded guilty in September on the day her trial was due to start.

Sentencing was adjourned until today for reports, only for George to ask to change her plea back to not guilty, claiming she had acted under duress.

This was refused, however, by Judge Michael Carroll. Passing sentence he said: "You must have realised what you were getting yourself involved in in the disposal of this motor car."

The court heard at an earlier hearing that George had an accident in her Chrysler Voyager car in September last year.

Her insurance company Zurich arranged for the hire car to be provided by Enterprise Rent-a-Car in Chatham while repairs to her own vehicle were carried out.

However, prosecutor Keith Yardy said George, who works at the Royal London Hospital, was contacted on November 4 to return the Mercedes because there was a safety recall by the manufacturer.

She told Enterprise she was visiting relatives in Scotland and would contact them on her return. Several further attempts to have the car returned failed and she was warned it would be reported stolen.

However, George, who has previous convictions for fraud, went to Medway police station herself on November 24 and reported the car-jacking.

Mr Yardy told the court: "Police took this initial report of a robbery at gunpoint, involving a lone female, extremely seriously. All armed officers on duty in Kent were alerted and authority was given for weapons to be deployed."

However, although George and the car were seen on CCTV there was no evidence of a robbery. The automatic number plate recognition system traced the Mercedes in Kent up until November 30 but has not been recovered.

The court heard an entry in a diary found at George's home following her arrest stated: "Must get a shipper for Mercedes Benz."