A PENSIONER who lied to police following the murder of a millionairess has been jailed for six months.

Last week Jennifer Creasey was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in relation to the death of Patricia Goodband, 76.

Christopher Symons was convicted of battering Mrs Goodband – his business partner – before hiding her body down a 12ft-deep shaft in a bid to inherit her fortune. Yesterday at Reading Crown Court he received a life sentence with a 27-year minimum sentence.

Creasey, who was in a relationship with Symons, admitted writing a fake Christmas card from “Sue” to “Pat” on her lover’s instructions. The card suggested that Mrs Goodband was due to arrive in Stockton-on-Tees on December 22 last year.

The 73-year-old said she didn’t know what it was for and was cleared of using it to pervert the course of justice.

But Creasey, of Hale Road, Benson, was found guilty of lying in a statement to police about when she last saw Symons.

She told police she had not seen him since before Christmas, but the jury found this was a lie. She had told the jury she had forgotten when it was.

Judge Zoe Smith said “substantial planning” had gone into the murder.