£80
fixed penalty for false rape claim
http://www.legalappeal.co.uk/pages/justice/named_and_shamed.php
Legal
Appeal - 11th October 2004
For the
first time in the Braintree division, an £80 fixed penalty
ticket has been issued to a woman who made a false allegation of
rape.
The woman,
who is in her 40s, told police on a Friday night, one of the busiest
nights of the week, which she had been attacked by a man in his
60s while she was at his home. As a result of what she told police,
a man was arrested on suspicion of her rape.
As the investigation
continued, however, it became apparent that there were many flaws
in her version of what happened and she later admitted that the
allegation was completely untrue. The man was released without charge.
Detective
Inspector Peter Orpe, of Braintree CID, said: “We quite rightly
treat every rape allegation as genuine when they are reported. However,
following our investigations many turn out to be false. We are also
aware that many genuine rape victims never report the matter to
us for a variety of reasons. It is extremely difficult to deal with
this issue effectively and ensure we’ve got the balance right.
"In
this case we used the fixed penalty fine to deter this type of false
allegation, which takes up an immense amount of police time and
increases the fear of crime in the community.” This investigation
involved numerous people, including shift officers, sexual offence
trained officers, duty inspectors, doctors, custody staff and several
detectives.”
By Ken Bailey
Detention
for rape lie teenager 24th August 2004
