From 2007: Call to name and shame false rape claim girl

A teenage girl who lied about being raped by a taxi driver should be "named and shamed", her devastated victim said today.

Taxi driver Aftab Ahmed, 44, of Allerton, Bradford, was accused of rape in January last year after driving the girl home.

The 17-year-old had been out drinking in Bradford city centre with her sister and friends before they put her in his taxi.

The girl, from Shipley, West Yorkshire, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice when her case came to trial last month.

Speaking after she was sentenced to a four-month detention and training order at Bradford Magistrates' Court, Mr Ahmed said the girl had "destroyed" his life.

The teenager was told she would serve two months in custody, but the married father of 11-year-old twin daughters said: "Today is the worst day of my life, I can't imagine that the person who destroyed a whole family got only two months.

"I'm completely shattered by the news.

"She has destroyed my family life, my social life, and she has destroyed me economically. She destroyed my credibility.

"There is also the effect on my children.

"I believe they didn't consider these things completely.

"She should be named and shamed."

Mr Ahmed said he had also lost the respect of his colleagues and suffered financially.

His wife, Amber, 32, who has supported him throughout the ordeal, said she "never doubted him for a moment".

She said: "I thought she would have got more for what she put me and my family through.

"I can't tell you how horrified I am."

The 17-year-old was drinking in the city centre on January 28 last year when her sister and friends put her in a taxi with instructions to return to the Baildon area, the court heard.

Mr Ahmed reassured them that she would be safe by giving them his registration number.

The girl was sick six times on the way home and had trouble giving directions.

When she returned home she made the allegation of rape and took police to Baildon Moor where she said it had happened.

In a statement read to the court she said: "I was upset, I was drunk and experienced a pain with my vagina.

"I was extremely disorientated in the taxi.

"I arrived home. At that stage I seriously believed I had experienced a genuine sexual assault.

"I returned to normality and realised it had not taken place. By that time the police were on their way.

"The incident had spiralled out of control and I was concerned about what would happen if I said it had not happened at all."

District Judge David Thomas said he would not allow the press to name the girl who was a "vulnerable person".

Sentencing, he said: "He couldn't find your home because you were not in a position to direct him to it and he took the trouble to ask at several places.

"You repaid that kindness by alleging that he had raped you.

"This was persisted with firstly when you believed it and then at a time when you did not believe it.

"The consequences were disastrous for Mr Ahmed, who was arrested in front of his family."

He continued: "I accept fully that you have great remorse for what has happened.

"As you said, sorry is a very short word - it doesn't put matters right.

"I don't want you or anyone else to have the impression that people can make these allegations and get away with it.

"It was extremely serious what you did and I would be failing in my duty if I didn't reflect that in the sentence I impose today."

After an investigation police said it was "simply impossible" for the allegation to be true.

The 17-year-old appeared in court in April last year charged with perverting the course of justice.

She initially entered a not guilty plea but changed her plea to guilty at Bingley Youth Court last month.

Duncan Wilcock, prosecuting, said the case had cost the tax payer about £6,000.

Edward Renvoize, in mitigation, said it was not an "archetypal case" and no malice was intended.

"It's naivety, a lack of understanding and a lack of judgment which has caused this young lady to persist in story-telling," he said

The girl, who appeared in the dock with her sister, spoke only to confirm her name, age and address.

As she was handcuffed and led away she broke down in tears.