February 2023

Swindon woman who made false rape allegation is jailed for 14 months

A Swindon woman has been jailed after she lied and made a false allegation of a stranger rape.

Sophie James, 26, has been handed a 14-month prison sentence and been forced to pay a £149 victim surcharge.

James, of Frobisher Drive, Walcot, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice after she reported she was the victim of a rape in Swindon in August 2019.

She called police claiming that a takeaway driver had attended her address to deliver food but instead, he forced his way into her property and raped her.

Police said James was obstructive and refused to co-operate with any requests by officers.

Upon further enquiries, police were able to prove that James had in fact fabricated the report entirely and that the ‘suspect’ was in fact in Bristol at the time she reported to have been raped by him.