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A police officer says he considered taking his own life after a woman falsely accused him of rape.

A judge described Samantha Murray-Evans’s actions as “wicked” – not just for the impact on the officer but because of the effects false allegations had on the criminal justice system and on genuine rape victims.

Swansea Crown Court heard Murray-Evans and Dyfed-Powys Police officer Paul Morgan met online in 2014, and subsequently agreed to meet in person.

On October 13 they had sex in Mr Morgan’s house, and in the hours that followed she sent him a series of sexual text messages and intimate images. The following day she returned to his house, but he asked the 44-year-old to leave.

Prosecutor Catherine Richards said the next day Murray-Evans made a complaint of rape against Mr Morgan, saying he had ripped her clothes off and sexually assaulted her.

Mr Morgan said the allegation “ruined his life” and left him on the verge of suicide. He said he met Murray-Evans on a dating site and they dated for around six weeks before accusations were made.

Mr Morgan said: “Officers came around here and they shone a torch in my face. They woke me up by shouting my name.

“I opened the front door and seven police officers said they were there to investigate me. They arrested me in the living room. I was just petrified. These are people I know. The Detective Constabl who arrested me gave me a bravery award for going in the Tawe River to save a boy.”

Mr Morgan was arrested by his own force just before midnight on October 15, and taken into custody – he was suspended from duty while the allegations were investigated.

The court heard Mr Morgan was on bail for five weeks until the decision was made that no further action would be taken.

Murray-Evans, of Heol Cledwyn, Birchgrove, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to carrying out acts intending to pervert the course of justice when she appeared in the dock for sentencing.

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Describing how he felt following his initial arrest, Mr Morgan said: “I went into panic mode, sheer terror.

“I hadn’t even told my parents what happened and I made a decision to take my own life.

“I sat there and you think you might as well do it, you think they’re going to find you guilty. It was a very long night and in the end I decided not to do it.”

In his victim impact statement, which Mr Morgan read to court, he said the allegations had a devastating effect on his life.

He said he had been called a rapist in the street, had been left suffering with depression and anxiety, and was off work on sickness leave.

Judge Paul Thomas QC said it was difficult to think of a much more wicked thing than to falsely accuse someone of rape.

He described Murray-Evans’s lies as “planned, persistent and callous”, and said had it not been for the messages she had sent him it could have come down to her word against the victim’s.

And he said the defendant’s actions had not just had a great impact on Mr Morgan’s life and career, but had “struck at the very heart of the system” and could impact on genuine rape victims coming forward.

Giving the defendant a 25% discount for her guilty plea, he sentenced Murray-Evans to 27 months in prison, half of which she will serve in custody.

Judge Thomas also expressed his concerns about the length of time the case had taken to come to court, and said he was not wholly satisfied with the Crown Prosecution Service explanation that the file it received was “lacking in quality”.

Speaking after the sentencing, the officer said he was “relieved” the ordeal was over but the effects of the allegation would stay with him for the rest of his life.

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He added: “I am still on the sick. I will never be able to go on frontline duty and I will struggle to do whatever job they give me now.

“I am on medication and have been since the allegation was made and I see a councillor regularly.

“The last three years has been sheer hell but it’s easier now than it was at various stages.

“I am not too pleased with (Murray-Evans). What she did is horrendous but I thought at some stage she’s going to realise what she’s done.

“You realise how much it ruins your life when you’re on the other side.

“You can’t move on when you’re in the middle of something. When someone runs a check on my name an arrest for rape comes up, that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

“When I go through airports now I don’t know what’s coming up on the check.

“I have been stopped and waited a longer time when most people pass through. You’re paranoid all the time.

“I have got two-and-a-half years left to get a pension and I’d like to be able to achieve that.

“I was an enthusiastic police officer before, I’m not now, but I want something for what I have put in.”

Now that he has been completely vindicated, the officer has something to look forward to.

He said: “I’m engaged to be married. We are going to be married next year so something good has come out of the last few years.”