THE wife of a man jailed for leaving a North-East shopkeeper brain-damaged in an attack was punished yesterday for dishonesty.

Mother-of-four Elizabeth Rees, of Auckland Avenue, Darlington, was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community punishment for dishonestly obtaining £2,644 from Lloyds TSB. She denied the offence.

Darlington Magistrates' Court heard how Rees, 40, falsely said her cheque book had been stolen, and then used it to buy clothes and food between July 2002 and May 2003.

She was ordered to repay the bank the money she had taken.

Last year, Rees pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice after her husband, Alan, deliberately drove at shopkeeper Rakvinder Singh Garcha.

In December, her husband was jailed for four years by Teesside Crown Court for inflicting grievous bodily harm on the 30-year-old shopkeeper, dangerous driving and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Elzabeth Rees admitted that soon after the attack, she took the vehicle to a car wash to get rid of marks on the bonnet.

She was spared jail for the sake of the couple's four children and was given a three-year rehabilitation order.

At the time of the trial in November last year, Judge Peter Fox said it was the worst case of its kind he had experienced in 40 years of practising law.

Trainee accountant Mr Garcha was working in the family shop when he argued with Rees after he refused to sell cigarettes to the couple's teenage son.

The argument spilled outside the shop in Bates Avenue, Darlington, and Rees drove his car at the father-of-two, carrying him 50 yards on the bonnet. He then made an emergency stop, left Mr Garcha in the street and drove off.

Mr Garcha suffered brain damage, leaving him with epilepsy and short-term memory loss.

Mr Garcha's family said they had hoped Mr Rees would be given at least eight years in jail.