A woman attended the offices of a solicitors' firm and signed documents to purport to be the owner of a house in an alleged identity fraud, a court heard.

Isla Halls is charged with dishonestly making a false representation, in that she purported to be the joint owner of a house in Reading, Berkshire. The offence is alleged to have taken place in Romford, Essex, between June 1 2022 and July 31 2022, a court heard.

Halls, 44, of Lighthouse View in Greenwich, London, denied the charge this week at Reading Crown Court (pictured above).

A previous hearing before magistrates was told that she had tried to present herself as one of the joint owners of a house on Surrey Road in the town. Prosecutors told how the real owners of that property own it outright, rent it to tenants and had no intention of selling it.

The alleged fraud exposed the owners of the property and the company trying to sell the house to a potential loss of £254,000, a court heard.

Josh Happé, defending Halls in court, said she accepted 'attending a solicitors’ offices to sign documents', but said she denied fraud. The court heard that the prosecution was considering whether solicitors from the firm, which was not named in court, should be called to give evidence at the trial.

A trial date was set for 23 September.