Man’s anger at neighbour after false accusation of racist abuse
AN INNOCENT man has hit out after a lying neighbour who made up a race-hate crime against him escaped punishment.
John Davis, of Greenock, was arrested and charged with racially abusing his downstairs neighbour Sharon Brooke – who maliciously claimed he called her an “English **** .”
But when the case went to trial, Ms Brooke, 45, stood up in the witness box and freely admitted that she had made it all up to get him in trouble.
She was immediately arrested and taken to cells to be questioned over wasting police time and perverting the course of justice.
Mr Davis, 40, expected her to be prosecuted and punished for putting him through an eight-month legal ordeal in which he was worried sick that he would lose his job and good name.
But the Crown Office has announced that no action will be taken against Brooke.
The decision comes even though she stood in the witness box and openly admit- ted: “It’s all lies – I made it all up. I hate him.”
Mr Davis said: “It’s disgusting. How can she be allowed to make all this stuff up and just get away with it?
“At the very least I thought she’d get a fine or some sort of punishment. What kind of message is this to send?
“It’s like saying that it’s fine to make up lies about someone and put them though hell because there won’t be any comeback.
“I could have lost my job over this. If the court had found me guilty it would have been almost certain dismissal.”
Father-of-two Mr Davis was arrested on May 31 last year – but the case did not go to court until January.
And he has spent the last six months waiting to hear what action will be taken against Brooke.
He said: “I had half of Greenock thinking I was a racist and my parents having to hear about it.
“My mum is actually English and I was born in South Africa when my folks were living out there.
“All I ever did was politely ask her and her partner to try and keep their dog from barking so loudly during the day, so I could get a sleep during the day. But she tried to ruin my name. It’s appalling.”
A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “The Procurator Fiscal received a report concerning a woman in connection with an alleged incident in Greenock on 31 May, 2015. Following full and careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, the Procurator Fiscal instructed that there be no proceedings.”