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A TALENTED young boxer who made a false rape accusation which resulted in a man being arrested had insulted the real victims of sexual assault, a court has heard. Tanisha Devlin, 19, had maintained the allegations – which were completely made up – right up to the point of the matter going to a contested hearing. The Albury woman claimed to have been forcibly raped by a man at his home on November 13. She reported the matter to Albury police the following day, making a verbal report before undergoing a forensic examination. Devlin signed a nine page statement against the man on November 15, claiming she had been asleep at his house and woke up to him pinning her hands above her head, raping her. The allegations caused police to search his home and he spent five hours in custody. But as police looked into her claims, it became apparent there were glaring inconsistencies. Devlin provided four different and opposing versions about what had occurred, including when the assault started and whether force was used. She claimed to have walked home, but an independent witness said she had been driven. Police again spoke to her on November 16 and she became hostile and agitated, and again gave different versions of what had occurred. She then went to ground, with police attempts to meet her falling flat and their phone calls going unanswered. They got back in touch and she was charged. Magistrate David Degnan said making such an allegation was an “extremely serious thing to do”. “What you’ve done is an absolute insult to real victims of crimes,” he said. “All you do is provide ammunition for people who say these things don’t happen, people make false allegations just to get people in trouble or to protect their own reputation.” The police investigation was worth $7700 with further medical costs. The court heard Devlin, who has held a NSW state boxing title, was under family pressure to compete in the upcoming Commonwealth Games. She was “highly intoxicated” on the night the offence was said to have taken place, and has been suffering depression and anxiety. The magistrate noted many people in the community had mental issues but didn't resort to such behaviour. He convicted her and ordered 200 hours of community work and $2000 compensation to police.

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