British woman fined for inventing injuries inflicted by MP at animal shelter
British woman fined for inventing injuries inflicted by MP at animal shelter
A JUDGE has acquitted an MP of accusations of punching a British expat and leaving her with hearing problems after the ‘victim’ was found to have largely invented the story.
Eliza Díaz, daughter of former Alicante mayor Luis Díaz Alperi, was facing an 18-month jail term after Jasmine Lyons claimed she suffered a perforated eardrum caused by the PP leader’s having hit her.
Sra Díaz, however, said Ms Lyons hit her repeatedly and without provocation.
This has been proven by medical reports, and Lyons has been ordered to pay a fine of €800 for actual bodily harm and for perjury, false accusations and simulating a crime, plus €150 in compensation to the MP.
A judge at the regional high court of Valencia heard that the MP, who helps out at an animal sanctuary in Orihuela (Alicante province) reprimanded Ms Lyons when she and her daughter entered the shelter office leading two aggressive dogs, which they allowed to attack other canines.
Lyons was also a helper at the animal rescue centre.
This led to a heated discussion, during which time Lyons claimed Díaz had hit her daughter, who is still a child.
Lyons later changed her story and made out Díaz had hit her instead, and that she had trouble hearing afterwards.
She went to hospital and was diagnosed with a perforated eardrum and ‘total deafness’ in the right-hand ear.
But Díaz said she only raised her hand during the shouting match to ‘shield herself’ as Lyons was ‘spitting while she was yelling’ at her, but did not touch her.
And medics eventually proved Lyons had no trouble hearing from her right ear and that the perforated eardrum diagnosis was incorrect.
They also said she had been diagnosed with vertigo, relating to her ears, before the incident at the animal shelter, and had suffered otitis four years prior to the heated discussion, which took place in August 2013.
Additionally, other volunteers at the rescue centre said Jasmine Lyons complained of earache before the incident, and that after it happened, she was seen boxing at a club in Alicante.
Ms Lyons denied this, but famous boxer Francisco Martínez confirmed she had in fact taken part in matches.
Other contradictions in Ms Lyons’ statement include saying at first that she and Díaz were alone at the shelter when Díaz ‘hit’ her, despite having told other volunteers Díaz had hit her daughter, not her.
Witnesses then confirmed the British woman’s daughter had indeed been with her.
Ms Lyons claimed she had never had any problems with any of the other shelter helpers, but this turned out not to be true.
But in fact, she had been involved in conflict with several of them because of the way she allegedly treated the dogs.
Sra Díaz had been visibly affected by the accusations, but the woman who hit her will now have to put her hand in her pocket and pay for what the judge says was a fabricated tale woven in a bid to extract money from the MP and get her own back.
