Jail for Wren who cried rape after seducing her former lover

Communications officer Erin Casson invited Petty Officer Brian Eaton to her boyfriend's home three months after they had split up.

But she later told police Mr Eaton had forced his way into the house in Portsmouth threatened to kill her and then raped her.

He was arrested at his home in Watford and subjected to a six-month investigation.

Fake claim: Erin Casson arrives at court with husband Tim Rankin

However police dropped the case after becoming suspicious about Casson's claims and she was charged with making a false rape allegation.

The 27-year-old of Portchester, near Fareham, Hampshire, denied perverting the course of justice. But a jury at Portsmouth Crown Court took less than an hour to find her guilty.

During the trial submariner Mr Eaton told how the pair had met while working together in Watford, but had split after a year. She was then transferred to Portsmouth.

Vindicated: Brian Eaton underwent a 'mortifying' interrogation after Casson's accusation

Yesterday Casson - who has since married Royal Naval sailor Tim Rankin - sobbed as she was sentenced.

Judge Graham White said a false rape allegation was one of the most serious examples of perverting the course of justice.

He told Casson: 'It is important that the public are protected from people like you who go about making these false allegations. I see no signs of remorse on your part. Your false allegation to police was that Mr Eaton had raped you when the reality was that you encouraged him to engage in sexual intercourse.'

The court heard Casson had invited Mr Eaton to meet at a Tesco superstore in September 2006, where CCTV showed them laughing and joking.

Neighbours also remembered hearing their 'light-hearted banter' before they entered Mr Rankin's house.

The pair then had consensual sex, after which Casson left the house.

She met John Hibbert, a married man she had had sex with just 48 hours earlier, and told him she had been raped.

She was examined at hospital where doctors found bruising on her arm but no signs of rape.