A 25-year-old woman from west London has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for fabricating multiple rape and sexual assault allegations, leading to one man being wrongly convicted. Jemma Beale claimed she was sexually assaulted by six men and raped by nine others in four separate incidents over three years.
Beale was found guilty in July at Southwark Crown Court of four counts of perjury and four counts of perverting the course of justice. Sentencing her on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith described her as a 'very, very convincing liar' who enjoyed being seen as a victim, and said her life was a 'construct of bogus victimhood'.
The court heard that police spent 6,400 hours investigating Beale's claims at a cost of at least £250,000, with the trial costing an additional £109,000. One of her false allegations led to the conviction of Mahad Cassim, who served seven years in prison before his conviction was quashed on appeal in July 2015.
In a victim impact statement, Cassim said the false claim had a huge impact on his life, adding: 'One of my goals is to be a successful businessman, to have a nice family and be happy. I am working on the happiness - I have a long way to go.'
Beale's defence lawyer, Lawrence Henderson, said she maintains her innocence and is considering an appeal. The judge warned that such false allegations risk deterring genuine victims from coming forward.
