news, latest-news

A former NSW police worker has been found guilty of making false sex assault claims against her prison guard ex-boyfriend. Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker on Wednesday said the woman had a "vendetta" against the man and his family which led to the series of false allegations from late 2013 until mid-2014. Ms Walker found her guilty in the ACT Magistrates Court of two counts of making false accusations and three of causing public mischief. But the woman was found not guilty of another charge of making false accusations. Several other charges were dropped by the prosecution during the July trial, and the woman pleaded guilty to possessing a prohibited weapon; capsicum spray. The man, then a guard at Alexander Maconochie Centre, spent about four months locked up in Goulburn jail after the woman alleged he had bashed and sexually assaulted her twice. But police became suspicious when she then made allegations about his family members, including that they had attacked and burgled her. In one incident, she triggered a duress alarm and claimed to have been run off the road and attacked with a knife. She showed police a superficial cut on her hand as evidence of the violent confrontation. Police went to the scene and discovered a steak knife that matched a set the defendant had at her home. She was put under covert surveillance, and police found evidence to suggest she had been lying about her ex-boyfriend's family. In another incident, she claimed the family had burgled her home and stolen her iPad. The tablet computer was found on the verge in front of the family home the next day, but a check of a GPS tracker on the woman's car showed she had visited the property the previous evening. CCTV footage mounted near her home showed the family had not been to her property. Officers then re-investigated other allegations she had made in the past, finding the woman had accused a friend's father of sexually assaulting her in 2008. She was under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged false accusation, and the court suppressed her name as a result. During the trial, the prosecution argued the motive for the deception had been greed, as the pair had been locked in a family court dispute over property at the time of the allegations. In making her findings, Ms Walker agreed that greed could have driven the behaviour, but also said revenge, after being dumped by the man, and attention seeking behaviour could also be a factor. Upon the findings of guilt, prosecutor Anthony Williamson applied to have the woman's bail revoked. Mr Williamson argued the woman was a flight risk as she now faced a stint behind bars. But defence lawyer, Michael Kukulies-Smith, said his client had no history of breaching bail and the risk could be managed by conditions. Ms Walker granted the woman bail on condition she report to police twice a week, surrendered her passports, and did not contact or approach the ex-boyfriend and his family. The magistrate ordered pre-sentence and psychological reports for a sentence hearing in October.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/a59b6b4c-69f6-4b3b-8bb8-c9fe93afdcf1/r0_247_480_518_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg