Saturday 8 December 2012

20 Months? Is That All?

A woman who twice falsely cried rape against an ex-boyfriend has been jailed for 20 months.
Yup. Twice! They let her off the first one, of course:
Beverley Brandreth, 20, first lied that he had raped her in February 2010 when she said she was pregnant and it caused her to lose her baby.
That allegation fell apart when it was discovered she was not pregnant at the time but prosecutors advised that no charge be brought against her.
She pushed her luck too far, though:
Last November she made a second claim to police that he had dragged her into woods where she was beaten unconscious and raped, and he threatened to kill her if she reported the matter.
Her lies were unmasked again when the victim later proved he was in a DVD store with his new girlfriend when Brandreth claimed he attacked her.
He proved..? Isn't that the police's job?

We are spared the defence's babble in the local paper, but the Beeb helpfully adds it:
In court, defence lawyer Rebecca Tanner said Brandreth was "a complicated young woman, someone who has complex needs and a complex psychological profile".
She got what she 'needs'. Well, not enough of it, but still...

We get the same old boilerplate from the police, of course:
Det Con Chris Aunins said her claims "make a mockery of the experiences suffered by genuine victims".
"In investigating this false claim, officers wasted countless hours interviewing witnesses and on paperwork when they could have been dealing with a genuine emergency," he said.
"Not only that, but the man she alleged was responsible had to spend time in a custody cell, wrongly accused of an offence he did not commit.
"Unfairly, he has been put through a tremendous amount of stress when he is completely innocent."
And is that all her fault? Or...might some of it be yours?

H/T: Curmudgeon via email

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reminiscent of many cases, Rosie Dodd, Anne-Marie Hackett and others.

DJ said...

Oooh... I like that euphemism: 'had to spend time in a custody cell'. Is that like Pastor Niemoller had to 'spend time in a camp'?

I'm betting that if you lodged a false complaint of corruption against Det Con Chris Anus, the main thrust of his objection would not be that you were diverting resources away from dealing with real bent coppers.

Andy said...

Complex and complicated? all humans are that but most of us dont go around flinging wild accusations at people out of spite,she`s just a flake and a dangerous one at that.

John Pickworth said...

"... when they could have been dealing with a genuine emergency"

Following the logic; do we assume therefore that a genuine emergency wasn't dealt with? Are they still on hold on 999 listening to some recorded message? Or, were these emergencies responded to and the above statement is actually false?

Then again, this Detective Constable has form

Clarissa said...

I like to hope that the interview went something like this:

Police: "Did you rape Beverley Brandreth?"

Victim: "You mean my psycho ex-girlfriend who has previously falsely accused me of rape?"

Police: "Ah."

*police leave room*

jaded said...

Polishing my crystal ball.
I knew Broxted would be here first,it's his favourite subject, (apart from not standing for PCC of course).And as for John above,the blue bit actually reads that this DC in 2008 also investigated a false allegation.THROW AWAY THE KEY,TAKE HIS GOLD-PLATED PENSION copyright Daily Mail (any day).

John Pickworth said...

Jaded, I wasn't knocking him for his deductive skills, I don't know for sure he was even part of the investigative team. Merely for his Court Step wibblings... You know, the "Oh my God, if he hadn't been shop lifting in Woolworths me and my colleagues could have solved the Ripper Murders instead"

And by the way, if you read the linked hyperbole please contrast & compare his statement: "However, I would warn anybody who thinks abusing the system is acceptable to think twice because they will be punished." with A MAN has been cautioned for wasting police time after he claimed he was threatened with a gun and bundled into a car.

He might well be a good copper but he really needs to sack Gordon Brown's old speech writer.

© Are we really paying for these imbeciles? (1997-2012)

PS, There's a cat stuck up my tree.
How would the police deal with it...
a) Shoot it
b) Close its Facebook page

;)

jaded said...

I agree-i'm often embarrassed by colleagues who quote the party line after cases have finished.
Why don't we just tell the truth? Silly slapper,should have got more time,never believe anything she says ever again.

John Pickworth said...

In all seriousness Jaded, I'm not sure who these 'middle-management speak' pronouncements are supposed to impress. Certainly not the criminals (most of whom are illiterate) and certainly not the GenPup who quite frankly can see straight through them. Of course, the meeja lap them up and always reproduce them faithfully... although that probably says more about the vaccum that passes for todays reporting. No, I think they're aimed at impressing their bosses and you'll notice that the higher the rank the more inane the remarks usually sound.

Anonymous said...

I keep meaning to do a statistical job on your finds AP. False complaints and hoax calls do more than waste police time - they make genuine complaint so much more difficult - including complaints against police and other failing agencies.
I was involved in a case where an innocent man was set up by a criminally connected woman. The guy's treatment was appalling and he was never able to get the cops to investigate.

JuliaM said...

"I'm betting that if you lodged a false complaint of corruption against Det Con Chris Anus, the main thrust of his objection would not be that you were diverting resources away from dealing with real bent coppers."

*chuckles*

"Then again, this Detective Constable has form"

It's like he's memorised it! I wonder what PR-lite crap he spouts when he's caught a real criminal?

If, that is, he ever does...

"I like to hope that the interview went something like this.."

Me too. I doubt it did, though...

"Why don't we just tell the truth?"

Because it seems, increasingly, the truth is what's not desired. By public servants or by the public.

Ciaron Goggins said...

Dear Plod Arseholes, FOI request, figures for false rape England & Wales 10-12% minima for constabularies who replied

jaded said...

Dear Man of Many names arseholes,FOI request-you didn't stand for PCC election-100% lie.