Banker’s 70 weeks on bail after false rape claim

Ex-girlfriend wanted ‘revenge’

A BANKER spent 70 weeks on bail after his ex- girlfriend falsely accused him of rape, even though he showed police messages where she vowed to ‘get my revenge’ and ‘destroy’ him.

Paul Faulkner said he was left suicidal after he was arrested on suspicion of assault, actual bodily harm, sexual assault, coercive control and threats to kill.

But even though police were sent the messages three days after he was arrested, Mr Faulkner, from Hertfordshire, remained under investigation for more than a year and lost his £100,000-a-year job.

It comes after a string of rape cases have collapsed amid accusations that police and prosecutors were failing to disclose evidence to the defence. Scotland Yard is currently reviewing 600 cases of rape and sexual assault which are awaiting trial.

In text messages, Mr Faulkner’s former lover, whom he met on dating website Match. com, told him to ‘watch out for the police’.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, wrote: ‘I loved something that didn’t exist. Now I will get my revenge. I am going to destroy ypu [sic] as you have destroyed me.’

In another message she said: ‘ You will never get another job again... you will be well and truly f*****.’

Other texts from the woman revealed she reported Mr Faulkner to police during his week off, which she described as her ‘final gift’ to him.

Mr Faulkner, who worked at a private bank, met the woman in May 2015. Their romance lasted only five weeks, during which time the banker claimed that she had been violent and abusive to him.

He accused her of biting him, attacking him with a spanner and slamming a car door on his back.

Mr Faulkner also claimed she threatened his classic Volkswagen Beetle.

After the woman reported him to the police, Mr Faulkner said, his home was raided by four officers.

‘I had given the police all the evidence, I was not guilty and yet I was treated like a violent criminal who had already been convicted,’ he told Sun Online.

Even though his employer initially supported him and even extended his contract, Mr Faulkner soon lost his job and had to search for work during the final seven months of the police investigation.

He was served with a ‘ no further action’ order in December, but the woman is now asking for the case to be reviewed.

In December every police force in Britain was under pressure to review thousands of rape, sexual assault and child abuse cases. The Metropolitan Police is already urgently examining 30 sensitive investigations, with ‘scores’ more to follow.

It came after the collapse of two rape cases in a week after it emerged police had failed to disclose vital evidence to prosecutors.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright said the cases are ‘appalling failures of the criminal justice system’. And campaigners and legal experts warned the failures are likely to be far more widespread – and that further cases could be undermined by shocking blunders by officers.

‘I am going to destroy you’