A court official fixed jury selection so her friends could sit on trials and claim thousands of pounds in expenses, a court heard.

Jury officer Elaine Hemblade, 47, abused her position at Basildon crown court to enable neighbours Susan Wood, 46, and Michael Clifton, 44, to be selected for cases, the jury was told.

Unemployed Wood claimed £4,138 for “loss of income” while panel beater Clifton netted £4,515 by falsely stating he was forced to turn down work.

Hemblade also broke rules by putting her son Ben Allen on a panel of jurors, Snaresbrook crown court heard.

She even asked court usher Jackie Murphy to pick her son “if possible” and scribbled the word “use” on his selection card, which is supposed to be chosen at random.

Hemblade was arrested after court list office manager Iain Moore became suspicious when he spotted an unusual reference number for Allen in January last year.

Mr Moore also noticed that Allen shared Hemblade's address in Basildon.

Further inquiries revealed that Hemblade had also created a similarly suspect reference number for Clifton, who lived in the same street.

Mr Moore went on to investigate the jury service of Wood, who also lived near Hemblade, the court heard.

In February last year Hemblade was suspended and the trio were later arrested on suspicion of fraud.

Hemblade, of Basildon, denies three counts of misconduct in public office and two counts of dishonestly making a false representation.

Wood, of Basildon, and Clifton, formerly of Basildon but now from Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, both deny dishonestly making a false representation.

The trial continues.

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