Jailed: Elizabeth Jones, 22, faces 16 months in prison
after making 11 false rape claims since 2004
A compulsive liar has been jailed for 16 months after falsely claiming she
had been raped 11 times in nine years.
Elizabeth Jones, 22, made her first fabricated allegation to police in 2004
when she was aged just 13, Southampton Crown Court was told.
Police said that the young woman had accused at least one individual just
because she did not like them anymore, putting innocent men through a ‘terrible
emotional experience’.
Jones’ latest victim was arrested and quizzed for nine hours before being
released without charge because CCTV footage disproved her claims she was
forcibly taken to a property and raped.
They had an argument and she was angry with him, so decided to make her
eleventh fabricated allegation of rape, police said.
It also emerged today that in 2009 she was given a ten month detention and
training order for making up a sex attack.
Between 2005 and 2007 she had made eight other allegations, which police
investigated, but she did not face court proceedings.
Police launched an investigation after Jones, from Southampton, Hampshire,
instigated a friend to report she had been sexually assaulted.
She later went to the police station for a medical examination and repeated
her allegation.
Prosecutor Jennie Rickman told Southampton Crown Court a man was arrested but
he denied the rape allegation.
Detectives later viewed CCTV covering part of the house in which Jones
claimed to have been attacked. The video did not support her story as it showed
she was not forcibly taken there.
Fabricated: Southampton Crown Court heard that her latest
victim was accused because she did not like him
Ms Rickham said: ‘There is a history of her making false allegations of this
nature and this is the 11th incident.
‘Police had to take her allegation seriously and carried out an appropriate
investigation.
‘She was later arrested and accepted she had lied about being raped – she
said she did it because she did not like him.’
Jones admitted to attempting to pervert the course of justice and was
sentenced for 16 months.
Judge Derwin Hope said the offence was not only serious because of ‘the
terrible emotional experience’ the man she accused had to endure, but also
because it struck at the heart of the criminal justice system.
In mitigation, Megan Topliss revealed Jones’ disturbed childhood and the
impact of being in care.
Jones immediately accepted she had lied when approached by the police and
pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
DC Tim Blanche, from Southampton’s Public Protection Department, was leading
the investigation and revealed Miss Jones had ‘intimate contact’ with the last
victim, ‘but they didn’t live together’.
‘The man was arrested and he gave a statement – he had to live his life with
people accusing him of being a rapist,’ he said.
‘He became incredibly stressed and when he heard she got 16 months, he was
disappointed and felt that the time wasn’t long enough, after what she put him
through.’
DC Blanche felt that this was the ‘final straw’ for the 22-year-old woman,
adding: ‘After the previous ten false allegations, Judge Hope felt that it was
the final straw and had no choice but to sentence her to 16 months in
prison.
‘The evidence in the case was so conclusive as the CCTV images were so
clear.
‘I imagine that with the previous allegations the evidence hasn’t been
there.
‘We encourage all victims to come forward, but sadly Elizabeth was one of the
people that was not telling the truth.’
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Mail Online