Jail for pair who tried to frame Portsmouth man for attempted murder

Scott Quinton spent 26 hours in police custody being investigated for the brutal attacks on two men before he was later able to prove he had a cast-iron alibi.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how police had been called twice to a flat in Wilmcote House in Somers Town to reports of ‘two males fighting’.

Both Craig Howard, 30, and Connor Collins, 21, were inside bloodied and injured, with Howard having been hit in the back of the head with an axe, while Collins suffered a life-threatening 15cm cut to his neck from a Stanley knife.

Together with Amanda Wainwright, 39, Howard lied to police about Mr Quinton - Wainwright’s former partner - attacking the pair.

But in truth Howard and Collins had attacked each other in a booze-fuelled row while Wainwright was upstairs.

‘During this incident Collins attacked him multiple times with an axe to his head and in return (Howard) pulled out a Stanley knife and cut him causing the injuries,’ prosecutor Pierce Power told the court while reading a summary of Howard’s second police interview.

Lies ‘borne of panic’ started to spin when Wainwright came downstairs to see the ‘horrendous sight’ of the two men injured with blood everywhere in the Wilmcote House flat on July 20, 2018.

Howard ‘wanted to frame’ Mr Quinton and Wainwright wanted to deflect attention after the fight so social services did not get involved with her two children - while at the same time wanting ‘revenge’ on her ex-partner, the court heard.

Now both Wainright and Howard, of Tyseley Road, Somers Town, have been jailed for a year and six weeks after admitting perverting the course of justice.

The judge, Recorder Gordon Bebb QC, told them: ‘It seems to this court that the accusation was quickly made and was persisted with, witness statements were made in proceedings and it was only shown to be false because in the investigation it was found that Mr Quinton had a good alibi which meant your story was fake.’

In court Wainwright, who has a previous conviction for perverting the course of justice, laughed as the first line of Mr Quinton’s victim statement was read out in court by the prosecutor.

He said: ‘Since I was arrested I’ve not been able to eat or sleep, I feel disgusted at what has happened.

‘Whilst I was locked in the police station I couldn’t help but feel angry and scared having police turn up to arrest me with guns in my face - it’s something I’ll never forget.

‘I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong but I was worried I could have ended up in prison for something I hadn’t done.’

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Reformed binge drinker Wainwright, a mum-of-two, wept as she was later led down from the dock.

William Goss, for Howard who suffers with depression, anxiety and paranoia, said: ‘It was a simple and single lie.’

He added: ‘In his own words he was a coward and he told the lie. He’s not a cold, calculated criminal.’

Sam Barker, for Wainwright, said the lies were ‘borne out of panic’ at the bloodied scene and his client ‘never claimed to have first hand knowledge that Mr Quinton was there’.

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