DETECTIVES wasted up to eight weeks – and thousands of pounds of tax payers' money – investigating a Grimsby woman's false claims she had been repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by her boyfriend.
Heather Gibson, 29, eventually admitted her accusations that her former partner Gavin Plaistowe, 30, had raped her on 14 occasions – sometimes along with other men – were completely false, and she was jailed for four years.
However, when the truth first emerged and she was charged with four counts of perverting the course of justice, she forged a string of letters purporting to be from officials ranging from Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg to a crown court judge, expressing "outrage" at the move.
In her pre-sentence report, she also showed no remorse, claiming she had only pleaded guilty to "get it over with".
Mr Plaistowe, a Morrison's supermarket worker, spent 35 hours in custody and an agonising month waiting to discover if he would be charged with 12 counts of rape, whilst Humberside Police carried out an full investigation.
After he was cleared and Gibson was herself charged with perverting the course of justice, she made further claims he had raped her on two occasions whilst she awaited trial, which were also investigated.
She alleged gang rapes on two occasions – the last time with six men, Hull Crown Court was told.
However, CCTV of Plaistowe at work in the supermarket undermined her accounts.
She also told police she had details of witnesses in a cupcake-shaped notebook, which she was later captured on CCTV purchasing.
She later confessed to a friend she blamed him for her baby being taken into care.
Social Services stepped in due to a "lack of parenting skills" after she made a complaint about him dropping the baby.
The court heard she had gone to "elaborate lengths" to try to make officers believe her lies, taking police to the spot of one of the alleged rapes, claiming she had been dragged by her hair and bitten on the lower lip.
Prosecuting, Simon Kealey said two CID officers had spent eight weeks investigating the case.
He added further time had been wasted as officers interviewed Mr Plaistowe on two occasions, Gibson on three occasions and carried out a large amount of preparation for trial.
In addition to the "natural terror and outrage" Mr Plaistowe had experienced, investigating the case had also diverted officers away from real criminal investigations.
Mitigating, Joanne Golding said her client clearly had "issues".
She said: "It seems to me the catalyst of this was the taking of the baby into care.
"The consequences of this were catastrophic.
"What she alleged against Mr Plaistowe was actually impossible. However, I have to concede there was a degree of persistence and subterfuge."
She added former Tesco worker Gibson was now engaged to another man, who she claims to be six months pregnant by, although prison staff say a series of pregnancy tests are negative.
Sentencing, Judge Graham Robinson said: "Allegations of rape and other sexual matters have to be treated seriously by the police.
"They have no option. To do otherwise would open them up to complaints. In this case it took two CID officers six to eight weeks to get to the bottom of the allegations. There were other uniform officers doing interviews. There were two medical examinations, but it goes beyond all that.
"When a woman cries rape it dishonours the genuine victims of rape. You have no right to deserve the sympathy given to those women. You have no place among their number. The Lord Chief Justice said once the public realise there are women, such as you, who are prepared to make false allegations of rape, it causes juries, in cases of genuine rape, to think twice. It can no longer be said that women will not lie about such things."
"You make cases where women genuinely have been raped harder. This was a serious case Mr Plaistowe must have been terrified."
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