Lovesick lesbian cried rape to frame an innocent man A lovesick lesbian who spun an "intricate web of lies" to frame an innocent man for rape has been sentenced to four moths in prison.
Amy Jones, 21, went to police to falsely claim her own stepfather Rod Swainson had been abusing her since she was 12 years old. After she gave a lengthy statement to detectives, Mr Swainson was arrested at his home and charged with sexually assaulting his stepdaughter.
He appeared in court, spent a week on remand in prison before being freed on bail on condition he wear an electronic tag.
Social services allowed the father of two only limited access to his own young children until Jones went to police three weeks after the arrest to confess she made up her allegations.
Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester heard Jones had been going through "turmoil" following relationships with various girlfriends.
She had told present girlfriend Kelly Mackin she had been raped then tried to get ex-lover Laura Sproat to back up her sexual assault claims against Mr Swainson saying: "I just want him out of my life and put away."
But at the police station as she was being arrested Jones told police: "'I just want to clear everything up. I want to be with Kelly and clear up all these lies I have been telling."
Jones, of Collen Crescent, Bury, Greater Manchester was sentenced to four months in prison after admitting perverting the course of justice.
Earlier the court heard how police were informed of the claims by Jones's girlfriend, Kelly Mackin in October 2006. Karen Irving, prosecuting said a police officer visited Jones at her home address to ask her about the allegation.
She said: "She disclosed that she had been raped and sexually abused starting from the age of 12 by her step-father.
"Arrangements were made for a video interview. She gave a lengthy interview, and said that, from the age of 12, Mr Swainson had masturbated in front of her and told her to touch his penis.
"At 14, she woke in her bedroom to see him masturbating.
"On another occasion, he touched her breast. In May 2006 he forced her to perform oral sex. In September 2006, he vaginally raped her.
"As a result, on October 5 in the early hours, Mr Swainson was arrested by uniformed officers at his home address."
The court heard how Jones was videoed listening to officers reading her statement to her and signing it.
Mr Swainson was kept in custody at a police station for 36 hours before being charged with two counts of rape, indecent assault, gross indecency and inciting a child to commit gross indecency.
Miss Irving said he made to comply with strict conditions, including living at a set address, a curfew and wearing an electronic tag.
She said: "Social services were informed and he was only allowed to have limited supervised access to his two young children."
The court heard Jones was said to have made several phone calls to former partner Laura Sproat, asking her to confirm her allegations to police.
Miss Irving said police travelled to Scotland to interview Miss Sproat, who provided a statement. Miss Irving said: "On October 9, the defendant had contacted her and asked her to tell police that she was aware that the defendant had been raped and sexually abused by Mr Swainson.
"Laura Sproat said she told the defendant she was not prepared to lie for her.
"On November 3, police received a call from defendant, who identified herself and said she wanted to go to the police station with her solicitor.
"She said 'I want to come to sort this out because it's lies." "The officer asked which part, and she said "It's all lies. Everything in the statement."
In interview, she was said to have claimed Laura Sproat contacted her, but that she never asked her to lie for her.
The court heard how she had already been convicted twice for shoplifting, and been sentenced to community orders.
Sentencing her, Judge Timothy Mort said: "
Of all the allegations made by a woman, rape is a very serious one. The courts will always take it very seriously indeed. They are acutely aware of the effects of rape on a woman, that is why the sentence is so high.
"It is inevitable that when you make a false allegation, courts have to look at it seriously.
"It is inevitable that people will look more sceptically at other women who make allegations. You will be aware of the statistics trotted out by the press as to low conviction rates.
"A sentence has to send out a message to other people that they must never do this for the sake of the genuine victims."
Outside court, Det Sgt David Moores, of Greater Manchester Police said: "We treat all reports of rape very seriously and investigate them thoroughly.
"Amy Jones spun an intricate web of lies that wasted an enormous amount of police time and, even worse, resulted in the arrest and remand of an innocent man."