Drunk woman made up PC sex claims

A mother who falsely claimed a police officer molested her while two colleagues looked on has been jailed.

Nicola Kent, 20, alleged a PC dragged her into woodland and fondled her while two colleagues allowed it to continue.

She later confessed she felt "piqued" after being marched from her former Nottingham home to a patrol car.

Kent, of Main Street, Billingborough, Sleaford, admitted perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 15 months at Nottingham Crown Court.

Wept in dock

The court heard how the officers faced strain in their private and professional lives and still feared their careers would be tarnished by her bogus claims.

Kent, a mother of two, wept in the dock as Recorder Mark Hall told her she had persisted with her claims long after her initial anger had faded.

The court heard how police were called after the drunken woman caused a disturbance outside her ex-boyfriend's home in May last year.

PC Jonathan Kerry, PC Matthew Mitchell and WPC Mel Miller attended the scene and drove her back to her then home in St Ann's, Nottingham.

'Colleagues did nothing'

But Kent, acting "in drink and frustration", later went to a friend's house and claimed PC Kerry had molested her while his colleagues did nothing.

The three were not formally cleared until 26 October, when Kent finally admitted her accusations were false.

In a statement read to the hearing, PC Kerry, an officer with the Nottinghamshire force for four years, told how Kent's allegations "overshadowed" his life.

Recorder Hall, passing sentence, said the worst aspect of the incident was the length of time Kent had allowed the officers to suffer from her lies.