Just in case anybody out there thought perjury was ever a crime not pursuing, a case out of Britain is serving as a great reminder of how much damage lies can cause — especially when the lies happen under oath.
Jemma Beale, 27, faces a decade in prison after being convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice over a series of false allegations.
As the BBC reported, Beale claimed she had been raped by nine men and sexually assaulted by six others in four separate events over a period of three years.
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Her claims had serious consequences.
In her first claim, made in 2010, she accused Mahad Cassim of rape.
Cassim was tried twice over the claim, convicted, and sentenced to seven years in prison, serving two years and nine months. At the time, Beale was awarded £11,000 (about $14,000 U.S.) in compensation.
Beale also accused a stranger of groping her in a pub before participating in a gang rape of her in 2012.
However, an investigation turned up CCTV footage showing her attacking the man she accused before walking home alone, The Sun reported.
She had injuries, but forensic tests showed that she had used a hanging flower basket to injure herself, making it look like she had been assaulted with barbed wire.
Detectives started to seriously look into Beale’s claims after hearing from one of her former girlfriends that she had lied about Cassim.
At the time, they were investigating one of Beale other false claims. Looking back at all the claims she had made, they discovered similarities between her complaints that raised their suspicions that she had been lying all along.
Cassim’s conviction was eventually overturned in 2015.
Beale maintained her innocence throughout her trial.
As SurreyLive reported, Beale went so far as to accuse four medical professionals of providing inaccurate evidence in court rather than admit she had made it all up.
As investigators noted, Beale’s false claims proved enormously costly, both to Cassim and to the police.
Police spent 6,500 hours investigating her claims, according to The Sun , and in addition to the £11,000 in compensation Beale received, British taxpayers were on the hook for £250,000 for the investigation, £110,000 for the trial, £150,000 for Cassim’s trial, and £120,000 for Cassim’s jail time.
Judge Nicholas Lorraine-Smith made a damning statement in announcing Beale’s conviction.
“This trial has revealed, what was then not obvious, that you are a very, very convincing liar and you enjoy being seen as a victim,” he said. “Cases such as this bring a real risk that a woman who has been raped or sexually assaulted does not complain to the police for fear of not being believed. False allegations are likely to have the perverse impact of increasing the likelihood of guilty men going free.”
Beale appealed her case, arguing that the judge “should have given the jury directions about the ‘danger of assumptions, myths and stereotypes’ relating to victims of sexual offences.”
She also argued that her defense was compromised by intense media scrutiny. However, her appeal was rejected.
In a statement, Lady Justice Hallett said “The system of justice has suffered considerable harm – considerable resources have been spent investigating and prosecuting crimes which never happened. There has been no indication of remorse on the appellant’s part.”
