‘We will take action on false allegations’

SPEAKING a week after a Canterbury woman avoided prison for lying about being raped by two soldiers, DI Banks said police will act against those who make false allegations of sexual assault.

Last month mum- of- four Teresa Aldridge, 41, from Cumberland Avenue on the Spring Lane Estate, admitted wasting police time by accusing the men of attacking her at party in March 2012 and was handed a 120day suspended prison sentence.

Canterbury Magistrates’ Court heard she had destroyed the lives of the men she accused.

DI Banks said: “Unfortunately, there are occasionally cases where a false complaint of rape is made.

“Through diligent investigation officers are able to estab- lish very quickly when this is the case.

“These false allegations waste a considerable amount of time, resources and public money.

“We always carefully consider what action to take against people who make false allegations.

“However, when a person has been arrested as a result of a false complaint we will take action against the person making the false allegation.”

In Aldridge’s case, the court heard that as a result of her claims the soldiers had intimate forensic samples taken from them as they lay on tables with their trousers pulled down.

One soldier left the Army afterwards and the other suffered as his wife and children left him. He said later he had “lost everything”.