A Bangor woman who made a "wicked" false claim that she'd been raped in a shopping centre avoided an immediate jail term.
Chantelle Clarke, from Pinehill Road, appeared at Downpatrick Crown Court sitting in Belfast, where she was handed a 12-month prison sentence which was suspended for two years.
It emerged the man she claimed raped her in the toilets of the Flagship Shopping Centre in Bangor had "suffered dreadfully" as a result of her lies - including having to move house.
A barrister for 22-year old Clarke said she had expressed remorse for the consequences of her actions and the impact it had has on the man she falsely accused.
On February 14, 2017 Clarke contacted the PSNI and claimed that five days before a stranger had tried to rape her in the Flagship Centre.
The following day, Clarke told police that the incident wasn't an attempt, but rather an actual rape.
Police conducted a recorded interview with Clarke, when she gave a different description of the male who she said raped her than she gave the day before.
Five months later Clarke's mother spoke to police and provided the name of a local man who she said her daughter had named as her attacker.
Clarke then spoke to police again on September 19, 2017 and named the same man. When asked by officers why she hadn't named him before, Clarke said he was a friend and she didn't want to get him into trouble.
The Public Prosecution Service received a report from the PSNI and it was concluded there was no evidence...
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