This article by Andrew Grice has been extracted from the Independent website here A poll by The Independent finds strong public support for the controversial view that suspects in sex cases should enjoy the same right to anonymity as defendants Three out of four people believe that people accused of rape and other sexual assaults should [...]
Three in four believe those accused of sexual assaults should be granted anonymity
May 8, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Court awards anonymity for victim of libellous “paedophile” allegations
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
The case referred to below appears on UK Human Rights Blog of One Crown Office Row ZAM v CFW & Anor [2013] EWHC 662 (QB) – read judgment The permanent damage that internet publications can inflict is very much the focus of Tugendhat J’s assessment of damages in this case, encapsulated in the memorable description he [...]
judge rules that Lord McAlpine’s libel action against Sally Bercow for alleged defamatory tweets will be split into two stages.
April 17, 2013 from Leave a Comment
Lord McAlpine’s libel action against Sally Bercow for alleged defamatory tweets will be split into two stages, a judge has ruled. Lord McAlpine has won the first stage of his libel battle against Sally Bercow, the Commons speaker’s wife, after a high court judge ruled that the trial should be split into two stages. Lawyers for [...]
David Aaronovitch says lets be careful in our assessment of victims of abuse and the falsely accused.
April 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
There is an interesting article in The Times (March 21 2013) written by David Aaronovitch in which he attempts to balance out the often conflicting and competing claims of an imaginary person who was abused by a minor celebrity, and the claims of an imaginary innocent man who has been in the public eye. Imagine you are [...]
Couple falsely accused of child abuse win damages from Haringey council
March 18, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This item appeared on the Guardian website on the 14th March 2012. Couple falsely accused of child abuse win damages from Haringey council Pair plunged into ‘nightmare’ after anonymous tipoff about treatment of daughter are awarded £2,000 damages in high court Haringey civic centre in Wood Green, north London. The council mishandled its investigation, giving [...]
Compulsive liar jailed after 11 false rape claims in decade
March 12, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This article was first published in the Daily Telegraph (here) on 26th February Elizabeth Jones, 22, admitted she lied about the latest rape allegation because she “did not like” the man she accused of attacking her, Southampton Crown Court was told. Her latest victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was arrested and questioned [...]
Woman jailed for crying rape to cover up cheating on her husband
February 5, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This article appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 17th January Gaynor Cooke, 41, claimed she had been subjected to a horrific ordeal in the front seat of a taxi cab in 2003 and reported the incident to police at the time. She was also swabbed for DNA evidence. In her 18-page statement, she said the [...]
Treating every allegation against Jimmy Savile as a ‘fact’ undermines justice
January 15, 2013 from 1 Comment
For a different slant on the Jimmy Saville Affair see the article written by Charles More published in the Daily Telegraph which is reproduced in full below The lead headline on the BBC website yesterday said: “Jimmy Savile scandal: Report reveals extent of abuse”. Well, I have read the whole of the report, and I [...]
Lord McAlpine settles his libel actions against the BBC and ITV at London’s High Court.
December 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item has been extracted from the BBC website here Conservative peer Lord McAlpine has formally settled his libel actions against the BBC and ITV at London’s High Court. It comes after the ex-minister, who was not in court, was wrongly implicated in child sex abuse allegations. Unreserved apologies were made for the damage and [...]
Court hears of collusion and quashes sex offence conviction
December 10, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item written by Steve Butcher appears on the age.com website and refers to a judgement in the State of Victoria’s Appeal Court (Australia) A woman jailed in 2010 for sex offences 33 years ago against two boys aged eight has been freed after Victoria’s highest court quashed her convictions and acquitted her. Three Court [...]
Prosecutors and police have no business in pronouncing that the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith guilty of abuse.
December 5, 2012 from Leave a Comment
There is a long but interesting article by Luke Gittos in Spiked Online, stating that Prosecutors and police had no business in pronouncing that the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith had abused children. Prosecutors and police had no business in pronouncing that the late Liberal Democrat MP Cyril Smith had abused children. Greater Manchester Police [...]
Nanny jailed for crying rape after one-night stand
November 27, 2012 from Leave a Comment
A nanny who falsely accused her boss of rape when he rejected her following a one-night stand was jailed for two years today after a judge warned ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’. Full story Daily Telegraph, 21st November 2012
Mother jailed for falsely reporting her daughter had been abducted from her backyard
April 14, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Excerpt from the Guardian 12 April 2012. A mother of four has been jailed for six months for falsely reporting her daughter had been abducted from her backyard. The bogus account of how her two-year-old child was snatched from her home in Blackpool, Lancashire, led to a 13-day police manhunt and the arrest of two [...]
Torment of teacher cleared of sex attack claims: Accusations saw him barred from birth of son
October 1, 2011 from 1 Comment
This article by James Tozer appeared in the Daily Mail on the 27th September A teacher cleared of sexually assaulting six pupils yesterday told of the agony of being ordered to live away from his wife and baby son. Peter Wilson suffered the indignity of social workers attending the birth of his first child and [...]
Woman who threatened to falsely accuse man of being a paedophile jailed
August 27, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This item which appeared under the title “Wicked’ Blackmailer Catherine Bennett took £26,000″ has been extracted from the BBC Wales website here A woman has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after the “wicked and persistent” blackmailing of a man for £26,200. Catherine Bennett, 30, of Newtown, Powys, threatened to lie to police and falsely claim [...]
Charity worker sacked over false domestic abuse claims was ‘unfairly dismissed’
August 26, 2011 from Leave a Comment
A charity worker sacked after being the victim of false domestic abuse claims by his ex-fiancee was unfairly dismissal, a tribunal has ruled. Patrick Clark was fired from Maxie Richards Foundation, based in Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire, following the allegations made by Joanne Lynch. Mr Clark took the organisation to an employment tribunal after his ex-lover’s [...]
Sex attack in Ipswich woodland did not happen, police say
August 20, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This item has been extracted from the BBC Suffolk website (here) Police have closed an investigation into an alleged sexual assault reported by a 20-year-old woman in Ipswich. After speaking to the woman, detectives said the supposed incident on 9 August did not happen. She had said she was attacked in woodland behind Downside Close [...]
Newspapers admit making flase claims about suspect
August 3, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Eight national newspapers have made public apologies today to Christopher Jefferies for the libellous allegations made against him following the murder of Joanna Yeates. These include The Sun Daily Mirror Sunday Mirror Daily Record Daily Mail Daily Star The Scotsman Daily Express They have also agreed to pay him substantial libel damages, thought to total [...]
Pupils who make malicious accusations against their teachers could face criminal prosecution
July 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This article by Richard Garner first appeared in the Independent here. Pupils who make malicious accusations against their teachers could face criminal prosecution under new guidance on school discipline issued by the Government. Figures show that as many as one in four school staff have been accused of wrongdoing, often claims of assault, by pupils [...]
Guidance Perverting the Course of Justice – Charging in cases involving rape and/or domestic violence allegations
July 14, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The Crown Prosecution Service have issued guidance (reproduced below) in cases where a person who says they were sexually assaulted or subjected to domestic violence retracts their statement. Guidance Perverting the Course of Justice – Charging in cases involving rape and/or domestic violence allegations Published: 7 July 2011 Contents Introduction Perverting the course of justice [...]
Man falsely accused friend of having sex with under age girl
June 30, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This item has been extracted from the STV website here A man who falsely accused his friend of having sex with an under age girl has been ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service. David McGhee called 999 on two occasions to claim that his friend was in a sexual relationship with a [...]
Bolton girl sentenced for making false allegation
June 30, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This item has been extracted from the Bolton News here A teenager who falsely accused a taxi driver of raping her broke down in tears as she was jailed for 12 months. Bolton Magistrates’ Court heard 133 hours of police time were wasted investigating the alleged crime. The 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for [...]
Prostitute was sentenced to more than two years in jail after falsely accusing a man of raping her at knifepoint.
March 22, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This story was first published on the Liverpool Echo website here A prostitute was sentenced to more than two years in jail after falsely accusing a man of raping her at knifepoint. Shinaed Kelly, 20, was only on her second night as a sex worker when she accused the innocent man of attacking her in [...]
Daughter jailed for falsely accusing father of rape
March 2, 2011 from 2 Comments
A woman with a history of making false allegations of sexual abuse, who told police that her father had raped her, has been jailed. The lying accusation nearly ruined the business career of father Phillip Marrill, Guildford Crown Court heard on Monday (February 28). His daughter Emma, 21, from Camberley, persisted with the false allegations [...]
A schoolgirl who was found guilty of falsely accusing a 14-year-old boy of rape narrowly avoids a custodial sentence.
February 16, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This news report by Steven Morris has been extracted from the Guardian website A schoolgirl who was found guilty of falsely accusing a 14-year-old boy of rape when she was 15 was told by a judge she had only narrowly avoided a custodial sentence. District judge Joti Bopa Rai said the girl would have been [...]