Teenage girls are jailed for falsely accusing father of two of flashing at them in revenge for long-running family dispute



Jason McCue was wrongly charged with indecent exposure after false claims

He was on bail for seven months before teenagers admit making it all up



Lucie Rhines and Ella Cooper, both 18, jailed for eight months each

The builder said: 'I've been through months of pure hell'



An innocent man falsely accused of being a flasher by two vindictive girls spoke of his ‘living nightmare’ yesterday after the pair were jailed.

The two teenagers told police that they were in a car when Jason McCue, 34, approached them and exposed himself.

The father of two was arrested a couple of days after the alleged incident in June last year.



He was forced to give DNA samples, his fingerprints were taken along with intimate body samples before he was charged with indecent exposure.

Jailed: Ella Cooper and Lucie Rhimes, both 18, who invented the claims against father-of-two Jason McCue



Lucie Rhimes and Ella Cooper, both 18, backed up their allegations by making detailed statements to the police.

Facing two years in jail for indecent exposure, Mr McCue was hauled before magistrates three times.

At the third hearing the distraught Mr McCue again maintained his innocence and was told he would face trial by jury at Crown court.

But just before the trial was set to begin in January, Rhimes confessed that the whole story had been made up.

Rhimes of Chorley, Lancashire, admitted she had tried to frame Mr McCue after he had a disagreement with one of their families.

At Preston Crown Court, Rhimes, 18, and Cooper, 18, of Preston admitted perverting the course of justice and were each jailed for eight months.

After his name was finally cleared, Mr McCue revealed how the malicious allegations had turned his life upside down and that he had suffered a breakdown. He said: ‘I’ve been through months of pure hell. If they wanted to ruin me, it worked.

‘The false accusations have caused mayhem for me and my family, and the doctor has had to sign me off with depression.’

Mr McCue, a builder, said: ‘Things like this can ruin a man’s life, and people should know the massive impact it’s had.



'I’ve been feeling embarrassed and ashamed for something I’ve not even done, because it’s easy for people to jump to conclusions.

‘My mum [who lives in Australia] is ill with cancer and I had been planning to look after her, but I couldn’t leave the country until this was sorted out. Imagine how that felt.

False claims: Lucie Rhimes, 18, is believed to have invented the claims to smear Mr McCue following a long-running dispute

‘These girls may have thought it was some kind of joke but it was not a joke for me – things got well and truly out of control.’ Mr McCue had been walking down a street in Ashton-on-Ribble, Lancashire, when he saw Cooper at the wheel of her car at traffic lights with Rhimes in the passenger seat. Later, Cooper told her mother that Mr McCue had approached their car and exposed himself, and police were called in. Officers were eventually alerted to the lies just days before the Crown court trial was due to start. Prosecutors offered no evidence against Mr McCue and a formal not guilty verdict was recorded.

Smear: Lucie Rhimes was jailed after admitting perverting the course of justice

His partner Donna Masterson, 39, said: ‘There was never any doubt in my mind about Jay’s innocence, but people point the finger.



'It’s affected the whole family. It’s put a strain on our relationship.

‘Jay has been ill, and I have children who have to go to the same school as the girls’ families. I’d still have liked to have seen these girls get longer sentences. They didn’t show any remorse the whole time.

‘No matter what the vendetta someone has against a family, you cannot do that to someone. It’s the worst thing that someone can say about a man.’

She added: ‘When we found out that the case had been dropped just before it was meant to go to court, it was the best feeling ever.

‘It was great, knowing that the truth was out and the record had been set straight.’

Sentencing the pair, Judge Anthony Russell QC said: ‘In this case the most serious aspect is that an innocent man was wrongly charged with an unpleasant offence which has caused him distress and anguish, and affected his personal life and employment opportunities because, unfortunately, when mud is thrown it sticks.