A British woman dubbed an “attention-seeking” liar for falsely accusing 15 men of rape and sexual assault during four separate encounters was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.
Jemma Beale, 25, was found guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court in July on four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice, The Sun reported. Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith called Beale a “convincing liar” who liked being pitied as the victim.
“This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim,” Loraine-Smith said in court. “The prosecution described your life as a ‘construct of bogus victimhood.’”
Beale maintained her innocence throughout the trial and is considering filing an appeal, her lawyer Lawrence Henderson said. She also accused four doctors and medical professionals of handing the court fake evidence.
“Ms. Beale stands by the claims she made in this matter and if she had her time again she would again plead not guilty to these matters and contest the trial,” Henderson said.
Investigators spent 6,400 hours and at least $320,600 sifting through Beale’s claims and analyzing pieces of evidence, ultimately to conclude the accusations were fake.
“Beale is responsible for fabricating a series of extremely serious allegations, which led to several extensive investigations being carried out and teams of detectives and specialist officers spending thousands of hours on the cases and providing support to her,” Detective Sgt. Kevin Lynott said in a statement.
“Her manipulation of the criminal justice system has caused police to direct significant amounts of resource into investigating her bogus complaints as well as her own offending,” he added.
They were first notified about the alleged false accusations in December 2013 when one of Beale’s former girlfriends said a man, Mahad Cassim, was wrongly imprisoned when Beale said he raped her in November 2010. A month before, she went to police claiming a group of men had raped her.
Investigators looked into the four sexual assaults and rape claims and found “common discrepancies.” Beale was arrested in June 2014.
Cassim, whose conviction was overturned in July 2015, said in court in a victim impact statement he was extremely affected by the false rape claim.
“One of my goals is to be a successful businessman, to have a nice family and be happy,” Cassim said. “I am working on the happiness — I have a long way to go.”
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