‘Serial liar’ jailed after bogus rape claims

A “serial liar” who made a series of bogus sexual assault allegations against 15 men has been jailed.

Jemma Beale falsely claimed she was raped by nine men and sexually assaulted by six, all strangers, in four encounters spanning three years.

One allegation led to the conviction of a man who was jailed for seven years.

The 25-year-old from Hounslow was found guilty of perjury and perverting the course of justice following a six-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Beale, who was in a relationship with a woman, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said in sentencing: “This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim.

“The prosecution described your life as a ‘construct of bogus victimhood’.

“These offences usually began as a drunken attempt to get your partner’s sympathy or perhaps to arouse her jealousy.

“They each began impulsively, but what is particularly chilling is the manner in which you persisted in making allegations which you knew were untrue even to the extent of committing and repeating perjury.”

Police spent 6,400 hours investigating Beale’s lies at a cost of at least £250,000, and the trial at Southwark Crown Court cost at least £109,000

Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe told the court police spent 6,400 hours investigating Beale’s lies at a cost of at least £250,000, and the trial cost at least £109,000.

“Cases such as this bring a real risk that a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted does not complain to the police for fear of not being believed”, the judge added.

“False allegations are likely to have the perverse impact of increasing the likelihood of guilty men going free.”

In a victim impact statement, Mahad Cassim, who was wrongly convicted of raping Beale in 2010, told the court he had been hugely affected by the false claim.

“One of my goals is to be a successful businessman, to have a nice family and be happy,” he said.

“I am working on the happiness – I have a long way to go.”

Beale had also falsely claimed she was groped by a stranger, Noam Shahzad, in a pub in July 2012.

She alleged she was then gang-raped by him and other men, and even self-inflicted injuries to back up her claims she was assaulted with barbed wire.

The following year Beale fabricated similar allegations against six other men.

She claimed two strangers sexually assaulted her and said she was gang raped again, by four others, two months later.

Source: BBC