Courtney Clapham, 23, also falsely accused the man of s*xually assaulting her and made a fabricated allegation that he had r*ped a young child.

Her lies led to the man being arrested, charged and held in custody for a stabbing he did not commit. Police later checked CCTV, which supported his account that he had been at home.

Clapham, of Louth, Lincolnshire, and formerly of Immingham, admitted three counts of perverting the course of justice at Grimsby Crown Court.

She was jailed for three years and nine months and given a 10-year restraining order preventing her from contacting the man directly or indirectly.

The court heard that Clapham made malicious calls to police, including one in which she used someone else’s name to falsely claim the man had r*ped a child.

The allegation led to police interviewing the child and social services becoming involved with the man’s family.

On another occasion, Clapham called for an ambulance and was found bleeding from her thigh with a knife still in the wound. She claimed the man was responsible and pressured a friend into falsely telling police she had witnessed the attack.

Days later, Clapham was found with a knife in her calf and again blamed the same man.

He was arrested, charged with grievous bodily harm and held in custody before CCTV enquiries helped establish that he had not committed the offence.

While at hospital, Clapham made a revealing slip when showing an officer an earlier injury. The court heard she said: “This is what I … he did.” Her words were captured on the officer’s body-worn camera.

Sentencing her, Judge Gurdial Singh described Clapham as an “utterly manipulative, wicked young woman” who had made devastating allegations and gone so far as to stab herself.