UK: Made-up rape claims ‘devalue true victims’, claims Cumbrian charity

Article here. Excerpt:

'That’s the view of Carol Tindall, chairman of the Cockermouth-based West Cumbria Rape Crisis Unit, who spoke out after two women admitted making up rape claims in Carlisle, sparking huge police investigations and fear on city streets.

Takara Jayne Harding, 18, of Low Meadow, Raffles, Carlisle, pretended she had been the victim of a terrifying sex attack in a Carlisle car park and was in court on Monday where she was given a suspended prison sentence.

A week earlier, Chloe Jayne Fox, 20, of Spencer Street, admitted she had lied when she said she had been dragged into an alley and brutally raped.

Ms Tindall said: “It’s detrimental. It puts the police to a lot of trouble and effort. It devalues true victim and gives them a hard time.

“There is the fear that they won’t be believed. With rape, it’s usually one word against another. “When you have got people like this who make false accusations – whatever the reason – then it all adds up in people’s minds. Is she telling the truth is she not?'