A mother-of-three has been jailed for falsely claiming she was raped.<\/p>\n
Sophie Skinner, 25, from Llanfoist in Monmouthshire, denied perverting the course of justice but was found guilty by a jury.<\/p>\n
Newport Crown Court was told the life of her victim Damon Osborne was “turned upside down” by the accusation in 2016.<\/p>\n
She was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Judge Daniel Williams after he said she had shown “no remorse at all”.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Skinner went out drinking in Abergavenny “looking for attention” on Saturday, 4 June in 2016.<\/p>\n
CCTV showed her in a Wetherspoons pub, before going to public toilets in White Horse Lane.<\/p>\n
“You then saw Damon Osborne who was waiting for a lift home – at the time he was 18 and you were 23,” Judge Williams said.<\/p>\n
“You ran over to him and hugged him… the CCTV at the toilets could not be clearer – you initiated the sex with him.<\/p>\n
“When he gave into your persistent demands for sex you told him you could get him into trouble for having sex with you.”<\/p>\n
The court was told that Skinner then made a false claim that she had been raped to Wetherspoons’ door staff, and was interviewed by police.<\/p>\n
Mr Osborne “strenuously and completely truthfully” denied the accusation, Judge Williams said.<\/p>\n
“After a commendably swift review of the evidence by police, the decision was properly made that Damon Osborne would not be prosecuted for the claim made, and to arrest you,” he added.<\/p>\n
Mr Osborne said since he was accused in 2016 his life had “been a mess” in a victim statement.<\/p>\n
After a jury in the first trial against Skinner failed to reach a verdict, he agreed to give evidence against her again.<\/p>\n
“I was accused of rape by Sophie Skinner, that turned my life upside down,” Mr Osborne said.<\/p>\n
“I was locked up for 17 hours, I had to undergo an embarrassing medical.<\/p>\n
“I still think of the worst case scenario – if there had been no CCTV in this case – Sophie Skinner would have been believed and I would not have been giving this statement, because I would be in jail.”<\/p>\n
Judge Williams described Skinner’s allegation of rape as “patently false”.<\/p>\n
“You maintain your denials,” he said.<\/p>\n
“You have no victim empathy, you have no remorse at all.”<\/p>\n
“As the court have said before rape is a repulsive crime. The victims of rape should be treated with every possible consideration.<\/p>\n
“On the other hand, just because rape is a repulsive crime, a false accusation can have dreadful consequences.”<\/p>\n
Judge Williams said such accusations could have an “insidious” effect on genuine victims, sometimes “allowing doubt to creep in where none should exist”.<\/p>\n
The court heard Skinner had never been in trouble with the police before, but she had been taken into care as a child and was described as “a vulnerable young woman”.<\/p>\n
She was sentenced to 18 months, of which she was told she would serve half before being released on licence.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"