Mobile
video clears rape accused
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5355966.stm
BBC
- 18th September 2006
A woman
who falsely accused four men of rape has been given six months youth
custody after one of the accused filmed her intimate lap dance on
his mobile.
Police detained
the four for 36 hours after Cinzia Sannino, 18, from Llanishen,
Cardiff made the rape claim.
But they
were freed after the mobile video was produced. Sannino's conduct
was called "evil" by a judge at Cardiff Crown Court.
Sannino
admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Sentencing
her, Judge Roderick Evans KT told Sannino he had "no doubt"
she had had voluntary, consensual intercourse with the four.
"Before(hand),
you performed a lap dance and allowed them to touch you intimately.
Lift
home
"Fortunately
for them someone recorded part of your behaviour on his mobile phone.
"Some
people would say that your conduct was more than foolish and ill-advised
- it was evil," he added.
The court
heard Sannino met the four friends, aged between 20 and 28, at a
Cardiff bar before going back to one of their houses.
She stripped
naked to perform a private lap-dance and was filmed "encouraging"
the men to have sex with her.
But the
next morning she phoned police to ask for a lift home. When they
refused she claimed she had been raped and police began their investigation.
Dizzy
Prosecutor
Chris Lewis told the court the men gave police "remarkably
similar stories".
The men
said Sannino began to lap-dance for them of her own volition and
removed her clothes until she was entirely naked, he said.
"They
told police she then invited them to have sex with her. One of the
men filmed the dancing on his mobile phone camera."
The court
heard Sannino told police she had danced for the men but had stayed
fully clothed.
She alleged
she had felt dizzy and had fallen asleep - but woke up the next
morning to find one of the men having sex with her.
Sannino
claimed another man was in the room and she thought he had also
had sex with her.
She told
police she felt she had been drugged before being raped by the two
men.
Sannino
then phoned police asking for a lift, but when they refused she
claimed she had been raped.
A large-scale
investigation was launched involving three doctors, a forensic team,
and a recently-shut police station was reopened.
'Completely
over-awed'
But when
police showed her the mobile phone footage she immediately withdrew
her complaint. The men were released after 36 hours in police custody.
Defending,
Peter Wormald said Sannino had got drunk to an excess she was not
used to.
"She
was in the company of a group of older men who were used to drinking
more than she was and she became heavily intoxicated.
"She
is a young woman completely overawed by what she has brought upon
herself."
A spokeswoman
for the False Allegations
Support Organisation welcomed the sentence, adding: "Up
to now girls who falsely accuse have had nothing done to them.
"I
would welcome this course of action because at the moment there
are too many people jumping on the bandwagon as they are aware they
can get compensation for false accusations.
"It's
not fair on the girls who have actually been raped."
Wife
jailed for crying rape to hide infidelity 7th June 2005
