A former private schoolgirl was today acquitted of making a false rape claim after a video emerged of her and two boys engaged in sex acts during a high school house party that “got out of control”.
The woman – who was then aged 17 and who is now a university student – had planned a get together for friends, but tried to cancel it when a Facebook event page was left public and went viral with hundreds of teenagers signing up to attend.
The bash went ahead – with her parents home in Fife being totally trashed, with radiators ripped off walls, holes poked in the ceiling with destroyed curtain rails, and family property obliterated.
It is understood that tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to the house.
The Monday following the Saturday night event the girl told friends she had had “a threesome” with two boys at the party – but later told them she hadn’t given the teenagers consent.
A video – highly contentious during the trial – later emerged of the act in progress and spread amongst schoolkids at secondary schools across Fife in a matter of hours.
Later that day she went to the police and alleged she had been sexually assaulted – leading to two of the then 16-year-old males being arrested and charged with raping her.
Following a painstaking investigation those charges were dropped – and she was instead charged with wasting police time.
She maintained during a marathon 10-day trial at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court that she had been attacked – with her defence counsel describing one of the boys as a “sexual predator” and stating he was “going round the party like a dog in heat”.
They argued the woman’s drink may have been spiked – which would account for her demeanour of concern for the destruction of her family home changing to her “being out of it” and trying to go to bed during the party later in the night.
A jury today found her not guilty of the charges.
As she walked free from the dock a sheriff told her: “I hope in all the circumstances you have found perhaps there is some merit in our criminal justice system after all.”
Earlier in the trial then-schoolfriends of the girl told that she “seemed quite impressed” to have had sex with the two boys before calling police.
One said: “We were making jokes – it didn’t seem like anything bad had happened.
“She said there was also another boy there at the time and she had performed oral sex on him.”
Another added: “She just sort of mentioned that she had had a threesome with these two boys.
“She seemed quite impressed that that had happened.”
And a third stated she had been told of a “threesome” at school two days after the party by the woman – but later received a text message stating: “What I told you about today. I need you to keep that to yourself. I didn’t give my consent to him and when my parents asked if I was okay, I burst into tears and told them.
“I now have to give a statement to the police so it’s very important that you keep it to yourself and please please tell no one.”
The 20-year-old woman, of Fife, denied two charges on indictment of wasting police time and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The wasting police time offence is alleged to have occurred between December 2015 and July 2016, while the attempting to pervert the course of justice is said to have taken place between December 7 and December 10 2015.
A jury of ten men and five women took just an hour to find her not guilty by majority of both charges.
Sheriff Grant McCulloch told her she had been acquitted and was free to leave the dock.
He added: “I hope in all the circumstances you have found perhaps there is some merit in our criminal justice system after all.”
After the trial, the woman’s solicitor, Aamer Anwar, said she had been through “over three years of hell”.
He added: “She is relieved at the today’s verdict delivered by the jury. She is deeply grateful to her legal team and advocate Sarah Livingston for their representation
“After over three years of hell, she can finally start to rebuild her life and I ask that her privacy is respected and there will be no further comment.”
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