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Woman in false rape claim jailed for four months
Last updated at 11:52am on 08.06.07A woman who falsely claimed she had been brutally raped in a park sparking a two-year long police investigation was jailed for four months after she admitted making up the allegation.
Ruth Siggee, 21, had claimed she was dragged into bushes in broad daylight and violently raped while passers-by walked just metres away.
Police closed the park - Chapelfield Gardens in Norwich - while forensic experts searched for evidence and officers issued a warning to women not to walk alone amid fears the attacker would strike again.
But a witness eventually came forward and told how she had seen Siggee willingly walking into bushes with a man.
At Norwich Crown Court, Charles Kellett, prosecuting, said that two-years after Siggee first reported the attack, officers managed to find a DNA match which proved she had had consensual sex with a former school friend in the park on the same day.
Despite this she continued to claim she had been raped, although she did not want to proceed with the matter.
Siggee, of Tunstall Close, Bowthorpe, Norwich, admitted perverting the cause of justice and was jailed for four months.
Defence counsel said she had been experiencing mental health difficulties at the time and was desperate for attention.
Mr Kellett said: "It is often the case that investigating officers rightly continue an investigation against the wishes of a complainant.
"The fear of the police was that such a person, emboldened by his first attempt, would commit further more serious attacks.
"She repeatedly claimed the rape had taken place, she denied knowing the man from school and said she had certainly never had a relationship with him.
"This was clearly a tissue of lies."
Michael Claire, defending, said Siggee, a circus instructor, has since married and now had a three-month-old baby. She has rebuilt her life and deeply regrets her actions.
He added: "At the time her mental stability was not all it could have been and she was vulnerable to the influence of others and prone to some attention seeking behaviour.
"She was in a state of emotional turmoil and once a ball started rolling she was unable to stop it."
Judge Paul Worsley said he had no option but to impose a custodial sentence. He said: "Rape is one of the most serious criminal offences and is rightly taken extremely seriously by the police and the public.
"False allegations of rape can be extremely difficult to refute and not only put innocent people at risk but also seriously undermine true rape victims' evidence to the courts."
After the hearing, police spokesman Kristina Fox said: "Norfolk police takes all allegations of rape extremely seriously and we would continue to encourage genuine victims to come forward and report these offences.
"It is a truly awful crime which causes untold distress and anguish to victims and we do all that we can to investigate complaints robustly and bring the perpetrators to justice.
"But deliberately falsely reporting an allegation of rape is irresponsible. It wastes police time and resources, diverts officers from working on other cases and brings into question the credibility of genuine victims.
"It can also frighten members of the public unnecessarily."
Reader views (1)
Only four months? Imagine if someone would have been convicted of this, it would have wrecked many lives and left the person in jail for many years? A gross misjustice here, she should have received a much heavier sentence. What type of message does this send to the hundreds of people that make fake rape claims each year?
- Brandon Thomas, London, UK
