A POLICE officer accused of an insurance scam has told a jury that her former lover crashed her car in an act of revenge.

Diane Reeves-Emery told jurors yesterday that her car had been deliberately smashed into a kerb by her ex-partner, Charlotte Eccles.

Reeves-Emery said weeks earlier she had an accident while driving Eccles' Renault Clio – and that the second smash was Eccles' way of getting back at her.

The 38-year-old is accused of lying to an insurance firm when she stated that she was the driver in the first accident.

It is claimed the alleged lie meant the couple were charged a lower excess payment of £250, as Reeves-Emery was older than her partner.

Eccles is also accused of the deceit. She admits she was driving but denies being dishonest about it, saying it was her partner who lied.

But Reeves-Emery told the jury: "I was the driver of the car at the time of the [first] accident. I have got no reason to lie."

Talking about the revenge smash, Reeves-Emery told jurors: "She told me it was tit-for-tat."

Reeves-Emery, of Burton, and Eccles, of Swadlincote, deny obtaining a financial advantage by deception.

The jury at Stafford Crown Court previously heard how the alleged scam emerged when Reeves-Emery was accused of carrying out a hate campaign against Eccles after they broke up.

Eccles, 23, a special constable at the time of the alleged deception in 2006, said she had gone along with the insurance claim because she was "petrified" of Reeves-Emery.

Later, the couple married in a civil ceremony, but split after less than a year. In the aftermath of the break-up, Eccles accused Reeves-Emery of harassment.

It was during a meeting with Derbyshire police's professional standards department that Eccles told police the couple had lied on the insurance documents.

The trial continues.