A MAN and woman who lied to police investigating an allegation of attempted murder have been spared jail.

Lukasz Klimkowicz and Katarzyna Prus were both living at a flat in Trowbridge where a fellow Pole was seriously assaulted in the early hours of Sunday, July 6.

But when officers spoke to the pair they gave false stories about what they had been doling that night, Swindon Crown Court was told.

And 26-year-old Klimkowicz even signed a witness statement claiming to be the brother of Prus, 23, which she also backed up in her evidence.

Chris Smyth, prosecuting, said Kamil Zlobecki, 23, needed 139 stitches to his face and neck after being assaulted in the stairwell of a block in Conigre Square.

He said the victim had gone to the flat where the defendants lived along with Prus' brother, who was celebrating his 24th birthday.

Shortly after 4am an incident took place where he was struck repeatedly in the communal area outside the flats, leaving the walls and stairs covered in his blood.

Despite his horrific injuries he managed to get back to his own flat, at nearby Ushers Court, where he collapsed and the emergency services were called.

When police spoke to Prus she said she had just got back from the Albany Palace club and had seen two men fighting but did not know them.

But CCTV footage from the club showed her leaving more than two hours earlier with the victim and other men who she did not mention.

Mr Smyth said it was clear why Klimkowicz claimed to be her brother Marcus, but like Prus he also denied an attempt to clean up the blood.

The defendant said after returning from the club he had remained in a bedroom inside the flat the whole time and could not remember the names of the others at the party.

In reality Mr Smyth said a witness saw Prus confronting the alleged attacker after the violence on the stairwell and Klimkowicz later admitted a clean up attempt.

Klimkowicz and Prus both pleaded guilty to charges of perverting the course of justice .

Tony Bignall, for Prus, said his client, who has not been in trouble before and is in work, was very sorry for what she had done.

Leanne Evans, for Klimkowicz, said although he gave false details and lied about cleaning up he really did not see any fighting.

She said the lies were found out relatively quickly and so the course of justice was not affected greatly.

Passing sentence Judge Peter Blair QC said: "You know now how seriously these courts treat this type of allegation. Usually people are sent straight to prison.

"In your cases I accept that your lying to the police was done at a time of stress where you were frightened as you had probably drunk quite a lot.

"But for a day or so you persisted in giving false information when the police were investigating an attempted murder.

"Not some minor fight but one which both of your knew full well had resulted in so serious an injury to the victim that there was blood all over the corridor and down the stairwell of your block of flats."

He imposed a four-month jail term suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work, on Prus and two months suspended for two years on Klimkowicz with 100 hours.

A third person, 21-year-old Malgorzata Gilewska, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice when she appeared before a judge in September.

She also admitted she made false statements to Wiltshire police between Sunday, July 6, and Sunday, July 20, this year.

Gilewska, formerly of Ashmead, Trowbridge, but now of Feltham Drive, Frome, was released on bail and will face sentence following the trial of Dawid Majewski.

The 26-year-old, of Ashmead, Trowbridge, has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Kamil Zlobecki, 23, in Trowbridge town centre in the early hours of July 6.

The defendant, who has been remanded in custody is due to face trial at Bristol Crown Court on Monday June 29.