A MARRIED couple who staged a bogus robbery at the Droitwich news-agent's shop they ran have both been jailed.

Manageress Theresa Stevens stole £1,500 from the safe and hid the cash in a Birmingham flat which her husband had secretly acquired, Worcester Crown Court heard on Friday.

She poured petrol over herself and lied to police that a robber had doused her and threatened to set her ablaze, said prosecutor Tim Sapwell.

Her husband, Alan - who claimed she beat him with a frying pan during their troubled marriage - went along with the scam. But police who interviewed the couple separately broke down their story after they gave different accounts.

Theresa Stevens, aged 44, of Crofters Green, Droitwich, pleaded guilty to theft and perverting the course of justice. She was jailed for eight months.

Her 55-year-old husband, of Roman Way, Edgbaston, Birmingham, also admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed for four months.

Judge Michael Mott said it was the wife's idea and she would have been jailed for much longer were it not for serious psychological and physical problems.

The husband rang police on October 8 last year to tell them of a robbery at Martins newsagent's and post office on the Westlands estate.

He claimed a man had come to the shop, thrown petrol over his wife as she sorted newspapers and produced a lighter.

She had found the keys to her husband's flat and stashed the money there behind a fridge.

She told police she thought her husband was going to leave her so staged the robbery in a bizarre bid to keep him.

Thirteen police officers worked on the case for 18 hours.

Alan Stevens claimed he was bossed around and attacked with a frying pan, said his barrister Kirsty Real.

He suffered from depression, had suicidal tendencies and there was a risk of self harm in jail, added Miss Real.

Peter Arnold, for Theresa Stevens, said the mother-of-two was "a wretched woman" who had profound hearing problems and low self-esteem. He said the marriage had broken down.