Woman jailed for false claim of rape in Farnham park Published duration 5 November 2010

A 27-year-old woman has been jailed for 16 months after falsely claiming she was raped in a park in Surrey.

Maria Brustenga-Vilaseca told police she was attacked in Borelli Walk, off South Street, Farnham while she was walking home from the railway station.

Surrey Police said detectives found she had in fact been at a party in Addlestone and had invented the attack.

Brustenga-Vilaseca admitted perverting the course of justice at an earlier hearing at Guildford Crown Court.

She had claimed she was walking through the park when a stranger approached her from behind, dragged her to the ground and subjected her to a violent assault.

In fact she had taken part in consensual sex at the party 20 miles away.

Community fears

Over 30 police officers and staff were involved in police investigation into the rape claim.

The area was cordoned off and forensic teams were called in to examine the scene while officers carried out house-to-house enquiries in the area and scrutinised hours of CCTV footage.

Fears were raised in the local community because the allegation was similar to an attempted rape in Borelli Walk for months earlier.

A local man arrested in connection with the investigation was bailed and later cleared of suspicion.

Det Insp Fran Breslin said Brustenga-Vilaseca did not give any clear motive for making up the allegation.

"Brustenga-Vilaseca's actions not only caused considerable and unnecessary alarm to the local community but also undermine the ordeal real victims of sexual assault and rape go through," she said.