Otago Daily Times
July 11, 2000

Two false complaints to police
by Craig Page

Police are frustrated by two recent Dunedin complaints with sexual overtones which later proved to be false, saying investigating such incidents wasted police time.

On Sunday, a 15-year-old girl claimed she was attacked and sexually assaulted while walking home in David St about 1.30am. The girl, who was drunk, later admitted she made up the complaint.

It follows another false complaint on Thursday night from a 22-year-old woman.

She told police she had been drinking at the Valley Lodge Hotel, in Kaikorai Valley Rd, when she went outside with a man and got in his car to share a cigarette.

She then claimed she was driven against her will to Ashburn Hall.

The man would not let her out of the vehicle. However, she managed to smash a window and eventually escape.

Following police inquiries, the woman admitted she had made up the incident, after an argument with her boyfriend.

Detective Jenepher Glover said while false complaints were not on the increase in the city, they were frustrating and a waste of police time.

"We obviously have to take all complaints seriously. There's a lot of work goes into investigations of this nature," Det Glover said.

Neither person was prosecuted over the complaints but both were warned about their actions, she said.