A scheming woman who got her long-term partner's bloody clothes cleaned after he knifed a father-of-two to death was today starting a 10-month jail sentence.

Natasha Davies, 35, formerly of Tilney Turn, Vange, set off the chain of events which led to murder when she phoned her partner Stephen Bennett to say she had been assaulted by Trevor Moriarty.

Judge Jonathan van der Werff said sending her to prison was his only choice.

He said: "You went out to buy some drugs and came between a drug dealer and Mr Moriarty and it seems he hit you. That was an accident.

"But you didn't see it that way and telephoned your partner and told him Moriaty assaulted you.

"You had known Bennett for a long time and knew what he was capable of. He equipped himself with a knife and went looking for Moriaty, found him and stabbed him once in the chest."

Inner London Crown Court heard Davies, now of Hayes Road, Clacton, did not having a washing machine so she arranged for his blood-stained clothes to be cleaned by a friend.

Judge van der Werff added: "The fact Bennett handed himself in and the fact there was sufficient evidence to charge him makes no difference to what you did that evening.

"Your actions might have prevented him being brought to justiced."

Davies, 35, had gone to buy crack cocaine on that fateful day in September, 2005, and bumped into Mr Moriarty, who was also trying to by drugs. A row broke out between the drug dealer and Mr Moriarty who accidentally hit Davies during the struggle.

She also became anxious when a parcel of drugs went missing and phoned Bennett, 41, who armed himself with a steak knife, hunted down Mr Moriarty and stabbed him in the heart in High Road, Vange.

After the killing Davies bundled up Bennett's bloodstained clothes and sent them to a friend to be cleaned.

Davies was convicted by a jury of perverting the course of justice last month, but admitted for the first time how she had tried to get rid of the evidence.

Bennett, also of Tilney Turn, Vange, had already admitted murder and was jailed last month. He was ordered to serve at least 13 years.

Following the sentencing, director of specialist investigations Det Supt Kevin Macey said: "The tragedy of the death of Trevor Moriarty is sadly another example of the evils of misusing drugs.

"Not only has Trevor's life been prematurely ended but two others will spend a significant part of their lives in prison, and all over the corrosive poison of drugs.

"I would like to express my thanks to all those members of the public who stood up and simply told the truth. Their assistance was invaluable and much appreciated."