Elizabeth Wilkinson, 21, has been sentenced to a year in jail after ruining a man’s life with a false rape allegation after he spurned her advances. Wilkinson resides in Foulridge, England, and had had a consensual relationship with David Lord, 23, and decided to make the rape allegation after he told her that he did not want to see her again.
The two had known each other in high school and had sex after reuniting over Facebook. Wilkinson then sent 80 text messages to Lord in one weekend and finally told him that she wanted to punch him in the face. He told her that he did not want to see her — for pretty sound reasons.
The father of two was eventually accused of rape and subjected to a full criminal investigation. He became clinically depressed and tried to hang himself. The case has increased calls for anonymity for not just rape victims but accused rapists.
The government recently abandoned plans to extend those protections to people accused of rape — a position long advocated by many civil libertarians. Those plans, however, were dropped under pressure from women’s groups and other organizations.
Source: Telegraph
Why don’t they just require that a criminal complaint be made under penalty of perjury — that would cover the complaining party if they accurately described being raped or whatever but the authorities grabbed someone who looked similar.
Spamheed:
contrary to Buds “logic” an eye for an eye is definitely a deterrent, especially for crimes like this. the little twit would think twice before she cried wolf.
Thanks for the link.
Rascal
the eye for an eye argument is fine by me, this is so wrong and incredibly one sided. The big story over in the UK is how the “poor little victim” gets anonymity as a matter of course and the man suffers death by media.
there’s something of a public outcry for equality with the appliance of anonymity, either both or neither should get it, but then “an unknown woman was raped by an unknown man” isn’t much of a story
even if he is found not guilty, or like this one she turns out to be a complete lunatic there’s still the whisperers who say “no smoke without fire”
there is a very good drama “U Be Dead” which covers the extremes of such a true life circumstance
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/sep/01/u-be-dead-david-morrissey
I couldn’t agree more with Pete. An eye for an eye, good enough for Hammurabi, good enough for me.
And “logic” has nothing to do with it, it is purely to deter people from ruining others lives on a whim or for revenge for some slight.
In Colorado, false reporting to authorities is a class 3 misdemeanor no matter what the allegations are — murder, rape, harassment etc.
Actually Pete / Sean I only had one legal issue in my whole life. I was extorted in Steamboat Springs and when I tried to get a hearing on it I was extorted again. Nothing was resolved because of the extortion. No facts were found. My belief, which I cannot prove, is that the insurance companies and lawyers of the people I sued, including Jane Bennett the false reporter, paid for prostitutes and strippers for former judge Nottingham. There was potentially a lot of money involved because there was both defamation and because I was forced to sell my property below value. Because the City of Steamboat doesn’t enforce zoning regulations, David Engle died in a fire, so he had it even worse than I did.
is it just me or does kay seem to have more than the average number of legal issues?
malicious false reporting of a crime should carry the same sentence as the crime.
I think that false reporting crimes should be punished. I had a somewhat similar problem when my former neighbor signed a bogus criminal complaint that I had harassed her. In fact, I had complained that they were building in violation of the zoning, which they were. She went on to agree that I “molested” her. This is a woman I was never alone with, had very little contact with and definitely no sex!!! She was married to the city council president and there was a lot of real estate speculation. There was a prosecutor who was married to a real estate developer so they got her to prosecute me without a written statement of probable cause. The arraignment was cancelled, they went to plea. I pled not guilty and they scheduled a trial and put it in the newspaper. Then the prosecutor dismissed the criminal charge, without a court hearing as is required. The newspaper published that the charges were dismissed because a trial was too expensive but I had a victim. Based on this the local judge issued a restraining order against me. In CO if you aren’t involved in an intimate relationship the only statutory basis is tied to a current criminal prosecution and ends when the criminal prosecution is dismissed. But they insisted it didn’t end. My neighbor stalked me. I had made the mistake of buying a new red PT Cruiser and I guess she drove around looking for it. Then she would call the police and tell them where she saw me. She filed a police report that she had been following me trying to take my picture so that the police would put me in jail for being within 30 feet of her. This was my next door neighbor. I could be violating the restraining order and be inside my own house. She complained to the police that she saw me in my yard. She used to park next to my drive or my sidewalk instead of in her own drive. I had to get a police escort just to go to safely to my car parked in my drive from my house. This guy became depressed as did I. My accuser never backed down from the claim her lawyer made that I had molested her even though in an ex parte hearing she admitted I hadn’t been following her that there was no offensive touching and that she couldn’t remember my calling her more than once in the 10 years we were neighbors. She called my local police in 2010 and asked them to arrest me because I had filed in court. She and her husband got the police to go to the high school and interview my son who was a freshman there at school in full view of everyone leaving. Our family has never owned a gun but they spread rumors I had threatened her with a gun. Meanwhile he sometimes walked around with a hunting rifle. Then an investment banker sent me an email saying he and his wife and three children were walking around on our adjoining building lot, after we listed our properties for sale since we finally decided it was too dangerous to live there, and met our neighbor who threatened to shoot his kids if they bought our property and ever stepped foot on his. They tried to make me unemployable and to ruin me financially. Ten years later the extra three buildings they built still aren’t on the property tax rolls, which have the same square feet of total building area as they did in 1950 — about half of what is really there and visible from Google.maps. Plus, when I lived there I heard he was dealing drugs but the police wouldn’t discuss it with me but then in 2009 when he ran for reelection he admitted he had a felony conviction for conspiracy to sell hash.
False reporting crimes are also a basis for a lawsuit. I tried to sue my neighbor and in Colorado there is a constitutional right to access to courts but former judge Nottingham dismissed my case without a memorandum opinion. Then my neighbor got DOJ to put me in jail to stop me from getting a hearing from a different judge.
Another woman in prison with more dire results:
Virginia governor won’t stop woman’s execution
By Associated Press
Saturday, September 18, 2010 – Added 3 hours ago
RICHMOND, Va. — Gov. Bob McDonnell refused Friday to block the planned execution of a death row inmate who would become the first woman to be executed in Virginia in nearly a century.
McDonnell said he reviewed Teresa Lewis’ guilty plea, court and psychiatric records and found no reason to commute her sentence to life without parole for the hired killings of her husband and stepson.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?articleid=1282358&srvc=rss
So all’s she get is a year and he has the rest of his life to deal with the allegations….seems fair to me….not really, but she did get some time….that seems fair.