A 22-year-old woman studying in England is spending 16 months behind bars for falsely accusing a taxi driver of sexually assaulting her, back in April.
Sophie Pointon told police officers her taxi driver molested her in the back of his car when she was heading home after a night out in Leeds. The driver, whose story was corroborated by voice recording, denied the assault claim and said Pointon was extremely intoxicated and became aggressive after he refused to take her £10 because it was covered in kebab oil.
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After making her fallacious claim to police officers, the 22-year-old signed a statement regarding the made-up attack.
According to The Independent, the driver, who has five children, was soon tracked down by officers and detained for six hours. Subsequent to the false claim, he was unable to work for four weeks.
The Independent has more:
Kate Bisset, prosecuting, said the driver was interviewed and said he could recall Pointon being “extremely drunk” when she got into his car holding a kebab.
He said Pointon threw a £10 note at him when they reached the Hyde Park area but he refused to accept it as it was covered in oil from the kebab.
The driver said Pointon then became abusive and ran around the car opening doors. The prosecutor said: “He did not think much of it at the time because such incident with people who are intoxicated are not unusual.”
The driver’s account was corroborated by a recording of a conversation between him and the taxi company’s phone operator. Meanwhile, GPS tracker data showed that the accuser’s account of the drive was false.
When it was realized by Pointon that the court was not buying her claim, the student reportedly broke down in tears and asked to drop her charges against the driver. But it was too late, and Pointon eventually pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice.
“Your malicious complaint has done a huge disservice to those seeking justice through the police and courts,” said Judge Christopher Batty.
Pointon was said to have had dreams of becoming a police officer.