Student jailed 16 months for making false rape claims

A female criminology student has been sentenced to a 16-month imprisonment after failing to substantiate her claim that she had been raped by a taxi driver.

The 22-year-old Sophie Pointon made the allegation after the driver reportedly refused to accept a kebab-soaked £10 for transport cost.

The convict subsequently lodged a complaint to police officers that she had been sexually abused in the back of the cab.

Sophie Pointon who patronized the taxi cab after a night out in Leeds, rang 999 in the early hours of April 22 this year and continued the deception by signing a statement, giving an account of the alleged attack.

As a result of Sophie’s claim, the driver, a father-of-five, was detained in custody and was unable to work for four weeks.

Prosecutor, Kate Bisset told the court that the driver was interviewed and said he could recall Pointon being 'extremely drunk' when she got into his car holding a kebab.

He said Pointon threw a £10 at him when they reached the Hyde Park area but, he refused to accept it as it was stained with oil from the kebab.

The driver said Pointon then became abusive and ran around the car opening doors.

The prosecutor told the court “He did not think much of it at the time because such incident with people who are intoxicated are not unusual.”

A recording of a conversation between the driver and a phone operator at his taxi office supported his account.

The court heard a GPS tracker fitted to the car also revealed Pointon's description of the taxi journey to be untrue.

Pointon broke down in tears and asked if she could drop the charges when her account was challenged by police.

Pointon, from Manchester, who had been studying in Leeds pleaded guilty to perverting justice and said her hopes of becoming a police officer have now tumbled-down.

In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Christopher Batty told the convict “your malicious complaint has done a huge disservice to those seeking justice through the police and courts.”

Student jailed 16 months for making false rape claims

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