A WOMAN has been convicted of possessing more than £50,000 in criminal property and using it to buy herself a new car.

Rhianna Thomas, of Coopers Lane, Abingdon, was on the verge of tears yesterday as the verdict was read out in Oxford Crown Court.

Following a four-day trial the 24-year-old was found guilty of two counts of possessing stolen property, after receiving two fraudulent cheques.

On March 9 and April 11, 2011, her husband Arron, 32, deposited £29,895.67 and £24,162.97 into her account after creating false invoices though his Oxford employer, Grafton Merchanting.

Mrs Thomas was also convicted of of transferring stolen property, after she used this money to buy a £14,135 Volvo C70 on March 17.

But the jury acquitted her of receiving two further cheques, for £36,679 on February 1 and £8,508 on February 17, and knowing or suspecting it to be criminal property.

It also cleared her of transferring stolen property, to buy a Suzuki GSX-R600 motorbike worth £9,000, as well as breast enlargement surgery costing £4,250, between February 4 and February 8, 2011.

The jury took just over four hours to return a unanimous verdict.

Her verdict was watched by family members and her husband Arron Thomas, also of Coopers Lane, who has already admitted five counts of fraud and three counts of transferring criminal property.

Recorder Philip Brooke-Smith said the couple would be sentenced together and adjourned the case.

They were both released on bail and will return to Oxford Crown Court for sentencing on May 1.