Woman, 31, falsely claimed two strangers broke into her house and raped her by selecting their profiles from Facebook

Linsey Attridge concocted the story to gain sympathy from her boyfriend

Judge sentenced the single mother, of Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, to community service



Linsey Attridge claimed two men broke into her home and committed rape while her boyfriend was away playing football in an attempt to stop him from leaving her

A woman who falsely accused two strangers of raping her in a bid to win back her boyfriend has escaped jail.

In an attempt to garner sympathy from her partner, Linsey Attridge, 31, claimed the two men broke into her house in Aberdeen and attacked her.

She even punched herself in the face and ripped her own clothing to make her story seem more credible.

Attridge then spent three days trawling social networking sites so she could hand over profiles of the men she claimed were responsible to police.

The two men were detained, questioned and had to undergo forensic and medical examinations because of her claims.

It was two months before police dropped the case against them because there was no evidence to support the allegations.

Attridge appeared in Aberdeen Sheriff Court on Wednesday, where she admitted wasting police time.

Yesterday, her former partner Nick Smith, 32, said she had put the lives of the two random men she pinpointed as rapists through hell.

Mr Smith said he had also suffered difficulties because he chose to support her.

He added: ‘I’ve spent the last two years trying to build bridges with my parents, my sister and some of my friends – just because of everything that happened.

‘I also feel sorry for the two guys on Facebook. I don’t know who they are, she just picked them off Facebook.

‘They didn’t deserve that, no one deserves that. These poor guys were tormented. They won’t get any compensation for this.’

Attridge had been in a relationship with Mr Smith for 18 months at the time of the incident in 2011.



But their romance had hit the rocks and the couple looked likely to split.

Duped: Nick Smith, pictured, spent weeks comforting his partner Linsey Attridge after she told him that she was attacked and raped by strangers in their home while he was out

She thought, however, that she could save their relationship by making up a story claiming to have been raped.

Mr Smith spent weeks comforting her after she told him she was attacked and raped by the strangers in their home while he was playing football.

The court heard single mother Attridge, now of Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, had made up the story so Mr Smith would be more caring towards her.

But after she was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work in the community rather than jail, Mr Smith said: ‘I think the sentence was ridiculous. I actually walked out of the court as soon as I heard it. I think the justice system has let us all down.’

The kickboxing instructor from Aberdeen said the worst part of the whole experience had been listening to her lies come out in court.

He added: ‘Sitting in court and hearing that was hard to take. But I’m glad it’s done and dusted and I can move on.

‘It’s been really quite bad, as while we were together I lost touch with family and friends.

‘She started arguments with friends. I think it was because they had figured her out.’

Mr Smith said her sentence was not enough, as she could have potentially ruined lives with her lies. He added: ‘She doesn’t think about anyone else or the consequences of her actions. She should have been locked up.’

Attridge has 12 months to complete her community payback order. She was also placed under the supervision of the social work department for two years.

Police refused to comment on the case yesterday.

Two years ago, a lawyer accused the Scottish justice system of taking a ‘softly, softly’ approach to rape investigations which allows women to make false allegations.

Iain Innes represented Charlene Kielty, 23, who was jailed for 18 months for lying about a sex ordeal.