False rape claim saw 24 police involved

Friday 04 October 2019

A teenage girl will be doing 120 hours of community service after she lied about being raped, wasting 61 hours of police time.

The 18-year-old, who Express has chosen not to name in light of her age, was sentenced by Guernsey's Magistrate's Court yesterday, with the community service given as a direct alternative to a three month prison sentence.

It was just after 03:00 in the morning of 16 June when a friend of the young woman called Guernsey Police to report the rape, saying it had happened just 20 minutes before.

When the first police officers arrived, the 18-year-old fell to the floor in front of them, claiming to be in a lot of pain, so an ambulance was called. She gave multiple locations in Town as to where the rape might have taken place, one of which was outside the Social Security Offices. She described her attacker as 'a stranger wearing a beanie' and claimed she had been pushed over and sexually assaulted. 

Pictured: Guernsey Police realised the defendant's story wasn't adding up when officers viewed CCTV of Town. 

Later, when officers were accompanying the young woman to the hospital, she said she thought it might have been one of her friend's ex-boyfriends. 

At the hospital, forensic tests were taken for evidence, and at the same time Guernsey Police began to cordon off areas to be looked at and collect items of interest. The following morning, the defendant was interviewed, although at first she seemed reluctant. She then identified an exact location where the incident had taken place, and said she was walking from a takeaway in Town towards the taxi rank, via Edward T. Wheadon House. She had been drinking excessive amounts of vodka. 

Upon examining CCTV footage, officers began to suspect the 18-year-olds account did not add up. They tested how long it took to walk from where she disappeared from the camera's view to where she reappeared, and found her claim to be impossible. 

It was after that that they went to the defendant's house to take her to the Police Station. During another interview, she tried to maintain her account, but her story did not match with her original ABE interview. She then quickly became frustrated with the questions and started to answer saying 'she didn't care', 'didn't remember', and 'no comment'. 

In total, it was worked out that 24 officers had been involved with the brief investigation, and 61 hours of police time were wasted.

Pictured: The young woman became frustrated when Police started to suspect things were not adding up.

When appearing in Court, the young woman entered a guilty plea at the first opportunity she had. Her Advocate, Phoebe Cobb, told the Court that she had previously  been referred to the children's convenor four times, and that she accepted the facts.

The young woman was unable to offer any explanation as to why she had made the false report, but Advocate Cobb said her client's mental health had been bad at the time, and the decision could have been a cry for help. The Court also heard how, because her story kept changing, it was clear that this was not a sophisticated attempt to waste police time. 

In sentencing, Judge Graeme McKerrell said it was fortunate no-one was actually arrested as part of the investigation.

"It is perfectly clear that you put a considerable number of people to inconvenience and took them away from being able to help others," he said.

"You didn't come clean until late in the day. The only saving grace for you is that no one was arrested. If that had happened you almost certainly would have gone straight to youth detention.

"You have wasted considerable public resources, so I am going to make sure you give back to the public."

In total, the 18-year-old will carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. If she fails to do so, she will be taken in to Youth Detention for three months. 

Pictured top: the entrance to Guernsey's Courts.