Brazen fraudster

Fake fall in supermarket: 20,000 euro fine!

A British woman who faked a fall in a supermarket in order to receive compensation has narrowly escaped a prison sentence. Teresa Birch was fined the equivalent of around 20,000 euros in court on Friday after pleading guilty to contempt of court.

Brazen act in a supermarket in England: Footage from a surveillance camera showed Teresa Birch apparently falling to the floor in a branch of the Iceland supermarket chain in January. She claimed that she had been involved in an accident after "her foot got caught in the loop handle" of a bag that had been left behind. Birch then claimed compensation of around €12,000 for injuries to her right knee and left hand.

However, the supermarket denied any liability and shared the CCTV footage which showed that Birch had staged the fall. Birch's lawyers then withdrew from the case and the woman herself was taken to court.

When handing down the sentence, the judge said that Birch's behavior was "completely unacceptable". "You tried to deceive the court and tried to cheat the supermarket out of a lot of money."

Birch must now pay court costs of 17,000 pounds sterling (around 20,000 euros) as well as victim compensation.