Lying mother jailed for telling police her son was watching DVDs at home on the night he stabbed a man to death

A mother who created false alibis for her murdering son and his friend has been imprisoned for two years.
Maria Keane, 37, told police her then 16-year-old son George Keane and his friend Luke Garner had been watching DVDs at her house on the night of December 23.
But her lie was exposed when other evidence was uncovered that led the pair to be convicted of the murder of David Scott on the same evening.

Alibi: Maria Keane, left, gave a false witness statement to her police saying her son George, right, was watching DVDs at home when in fact he was involved in a murder

The teenagers were jailed indefinitely last month and Maria Keane has received a two-year prison sentence for perverting the course of justice after she gave a false witness statement.
Mr Scott, a father-of-two, was repeatedly stabbed by the killers in Stanley, County Durham.

Stabbed: David Scott, the father-of-two who was killed by the two youths before Christmas last year

Garner was arrested five days later and in police interviews said he had been at Maria Keane's home.
When police checked out the story, Maria Keane told police her son and his friend had been with her watching TV at her house that night and had stayed there until noon the next day.
When further evidence came to light George Keane was arrested on December 31 - and repeated his claim.
But CCTV showed him away from the house and a witness said he had confessed what had really happened.
Sentencing her at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge James Goss QC said: 'With you they concocted a false alibi where it was agreed you would all say George Keane and Luke Garner were in your house and in your company in the period when they were in fact involved in killing David Scott.
'You gave a witness statement which gave them a cast iron alibi and they gave the same account.
'This was deliberate lying to deflect possible blame for a crime of homicide and the seriousness of this type of offence merits a custodial sentence.'
Maria Keane was arrested on January 4 for perverting the course of justice.

After her arrest Maria Keane changed her story to try to fit in with other evidence the police had gathered.

Accomplice: Luke Garner, who was also convicted of the murder, was jailed along with George Keane

The mother-of-seven - who is currently pregnant with her eighth chid - has two previous convictions for child neglect from 2003 and 2005 and one for animal cruelty in 2011.
The court heard George was not living with her at the time and had been in care.
Maria Keane pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Peter Sabiston, defending, said: 'It was a moral dilemma with it being her son and a really serious allegation.
'She is poorly equipped to deal with the traumas in her life.
'She has seven children and is expecting another child.'
David Scott sustained five stab wounds to his upper body, four to his back and one to the right front side of his abdomen, in the attack just after 1am the day before Christmas Eve last year.
One of the stab wounds to his back penetrated a lung, causing internal bleeding into his chest cavity and effectively suffocating him.
Keane and Garner, both now 17, were given indefinite sentences.
They will serve a minimum of 14 years in prison.

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