Jail for false rape claim woman

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A woman who accused an innocent man of rape, causing him to be arrested and charged, has been jailed for 18 months.

Zoe Davydaitis made up the allegation about ex-soldier Phillip Young, 49, in a bid to win back her lesbian lover.

Davydaitis, 24, Fenlake Road, Bedford, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at Luton Crown Court.

The defendant admitted using a hammer to strike the inside of her thighs to create the bruise marks needed to make her story sound convincing.

The whole of the CID office at Bedford Police Station was involved in the hunt for a rapist after Davydaitis' false claim, and DNA testing of her clothing cost £10,000.

Hate mail

Davydaitis, described by prosecutor Christopher Amor as a "self-centred attention seeker", even picked out Mr Young at an identity parade as the man who had raped her while she was taking her dog for a walk on 16 July, 2004.

When police arrested Mr Young he was recovering from a broken back he had suffered in a fall. His spine had been broken in eight places and he was wearing a body brace.

Despite his protestations that it would have been impossible for him to have raped her, the Crown Prosecution Service decided he should be charged with rape.

After Mr Young's name appeared in the local papers he received hate mail, stones were thrown at his windows and he was attacked in the street and suffered a broken arm.

His ex-wife even stopped him seeing his two young children.

This woman has ruined my life with her lies Phillip Young

Davydaitis finally withdrew her statement on 22 March 2005 after her friend told police how she had confided in her about making up the rape allegation.

Handing down sentence Judge Barbara Mensah told Davydaitis: "This was a particularly nasty, calculated and malicious lie which persisted over time."

Outside court Mr Young of Lansdowne Road, Bedford, said: "This woman has ruined my life with her lies. I could have gone to prison for years because of her. I can never forgive her for what she did to me"