A WOMAN who falsely claimed on prospectuses for her Leamington-based college that its courses were validated by a leading exam board has been given a conditional discharge for 12 months.

Nazarine Osborne, aged 50, of Chapman Way, Alcester, had denied nine charges under the Trade Descriptions Act of making misleading statements as to services offered at the college.

A jury at Warwick Crown Court cleared her of seven of the charges and found her guilty of the other two.

Prosecutor Michael Hick said Osborne ran counselling courses at Ariel College, which she ran from premises in Park Street, Leamington, employing outside people to give lectures.

She advertised the courses in local newspapers and also sent prospectuses and letters to prospective students.

"What we say she was doing was she was claiming her courses were validated by an outside body when they were not.

"The mischief of the offences is that she was giving false information about the status for her courses," said Mr Hick.

He said the 'very reputable' Associated Examination Board, which is now part of the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), validated three courses at Ariel College in 1997 and 1998.

But the AEB was not happy with the way they were being run and in June 2000 wrote expressing its concerns.

The following month it wrote telling her the AEB 'is no longer willing to continue validating your courses'.

The front cover of the prospectus for the college which she sent out to prospective students between September 2000 and April the following year claimed on its front cover that the courses were validated by the AEB.

In February 2001, the AQA wrote to her again, seeking an assurance that she was not undertaking further advertising claiming AEB or AQA validation - but prospectuses continued to be sent out.

Osborne was found guilty of two of the three charges relating to the college prospectuses.

She was found not guilty of four charges relating to allegations she falsely claimed in letters to prospective students that courses were designed and delivered in association with Kidderminster College and North Birmingham Colleges after they had ended the association with Ariel.

She was also cleared of two charges relating to adverts in local newspapers in September and October 2000 falsely stating that the courses were 'externally validated' by the AEB.

After the jury had returned its verdicts Mr Hick said the total costs of the investigation and prosecution had been just over £16,000.

But Peter Freeman, defending, said Osborne, who has never been in trouble before, had no income and no savings, lived in a housing association house with her rent paid by Stratford Council and had debts relating to Ariel College.

He added that she has also 'had to endure a lot of damaging press headlines' about the case.

Sentencing Osborne, Judge Anthony Nicholl told her: "The worrying thing about the way you conduct yourself is you believe what you want to believe, rather than the facts which any other person would believe as the truth."