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Allegations of Sexual
Abuse |
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by David Brown WITH just one in twenty cases of
rape leading to a conviction there have been growing demands for changes to
the law to make it easier bring prosecutions. However, there have also been
growing numbers of cases where men have had their rape convictions overturned
and prosecutions of women who have made up allegations. Last month a teenager was jailed
after four men were held in police cells for 36 hours after she accused them
of rape. Cinzia Sannino, then 17, only admitted her lies when police showed
her footage on a mobile telephone of her performing naked lap- dancing for
the men after returning home with them from a Cardiff club. The case led a spokesman for the
False Allegations Support Organisation to comment: “Too many people jump on the
bandwagon, aware that they can get compensation for false allegations.” Two weeks later a woman who
falsely cried rape against her former husband was also convicted of
perverting the course of justice. Sally Henderson, 40, a mother of
two, described by the prosecution as a “wicked liar”, claimed that Richard
Cooke, 39, had repeatedly raped her during their year-long marriage. However, police discovered that
her claims were almost identical to false allegations she had made five years
earlier against a previous boyfriend, Gloucester Crown Court heard. Lifting an order preventing her
identification, Recorder David Lane, QC, said: “The public has a right to
know the identity of a person who makes such allegations and who seeks to use
the system of justice for her own, unscrupulous ends.” A month earlier an obsessed
stalker who accused her psychiatrist of rape was convicted of harassment,
threats to kill and perverting justice. Maria Marchese, 45, rummaged
through Jan Falkowski’s dustbin for a used condom to clinch DNA evidence. The
case against the consultant, of Limehouse, East London, was dropped — but his
relationship with his fiancée collapsed. There have been growing calls for
men accused of rape to be granted anonymity until they are convicted. The Liberal Democrats voted last
month to grant anonymity to anyone accused of rape until conviction
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