‘I was shunned like a leper’: PHD student falsely accused of assault

A CAMBRIDGE PHD student has described how he was “shunned like a leper” after his fiancée falsely accused him of beating her up.

Matt Baron, 26, was banned from Christ’s College and sent home in disgrace after his girlfriend, fellow PHD student Sophia Cooke, told police he had attacked her when she admitted to an affair. She told university bosses that she was terrified Mr Baron would attack her again.

But last week a court cleared Mr Baron of assault, with magistrates dismissing her allegations as “inconsistent and not credible”.

He has now revealed the extent of his ordeal and has said he wished he had never agreed to marry her.

Mr Baron, who has just completed his doctoral thesis on marine paleontology, said: “I was shunned like a leper. Women students shouted obscenities at me in the streets and one male friend ... emailed to say that I was a vile scumbag who should rot in jail. I found myself banned from my college and sent home to Derbyshire in disgrace. Then, after I managed to convince the college to let me finish my PHD work. I was treated like a pariah.”

Even though Mr Baron was cleared of assault by battery, he must wait to find out if he will be allowed back into his college when officials meet later this month.