Teenager made false rape claim

Teenager jailed for lying to police about rape attack

A teenager who falsely accused a man of raping her has been ordered to be detained for six months.

Clare Newson, 19, admitted to lying to police about Andrew Grindle, from Chacombe in Northamptonshire.

His life had become a nightmare since the accusations were made, Oxford Crown Court was told.

The jury heard that Newson, who lives in Banbury, had got drunk, had sex in an alleyway and then falsely claimed she had been raped.

She made up the story out of guilt when she told her boyfriend she had slept with another man.

Consented to sex

He then told her to report the sex attack to police, but when she refused, he told her parents that she had been the victim of a rape.

The court was told Newson reported the lie four days later to stop her parents from "nagging" her over the issue.

But the police investigation into the incident found she had consented to sex.

The court heard Andrew Grindle had been abused, threatened and stigmatised as a rapist since the allegations were made.

Newson admitted lying to police and was convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice.