Woman jailed for more than five years for making 10 false rape claims against two different men

An Essex woman made 10 false allegations of rape against two men, leading to 60 police investigations – which ultimately revealed the men were not in the area at the time.

Cathy Richardson, 35, of Westcliff, made a series of charges against two men between January and May 2021 and has now been sentenced to more than five years in prison.

Essex police bosses have come to terms with her actions, which they say had a “huge impact” on the lives of the men she accused and resulted in wasted police time and resources.

Police added that its false accusations have also done a “great disservice” to real victims of sex crimes.

Richardson’s allegations led to officers conducting 60 investigations, with one of the men she accused being arrested and sent to undergo forensic examination.

As officers progressed their investigation into Richardson’s claims, they found that CCTV, phone records and information from automatic license plate recognition cameras (ANPR) showed that the alleged attacker was not in the area at the time Richardson claimed the attacks had taken place.

One of the men even agreed to have a GPS tracking tag attached to his ankle that would send an alarm to police if it was destroyed or removed.

On a number of occasions, data from the tag was analyzed and it was found that he was not in the area when Richardson said the attack had taken place.

Richardson was arrested on May 28 last year and later charged with disrupting justice.

She admitted ten charges to Salisbury Crown Court and was sentenced Friday to five years and one month in prison.

Detective Inspector James Holmes, who led the investigation, said: “Every time we receive an allegation of rape or assault, our starting point is to believe the person making that claim.

“These are terrible crimes and have a huge impact on those who have experienced them, and we have specialized agents and staff who support and investigate them.

“For starters, Cathy Richardson’s claims were no different and we conducted our investigations with compassion and empathy.

However, it soon became clear that the accusations made by Richardson were not what they seemed.

“Her claims are doing a disservice to victims of rape and assault who need our help and support.

And they had a huge impact on the lives of the two men she accused.

“Her allegations have led to a significant number of investigations that have cost our agents an enormous amount of time and resources that we would rather have spent helping real victims who really need us.

“I sincerely hope that this case will not stop victims of rape and sexual assault, who desperately need our help, from reporting it to us.

“I want to assure you that you will be believed, we will support you, and we will investigate what happened.”

An Essex Police spokesperson added that the force is “dedicated to tackling violence against women and girls in Essex”.

They said: ‘We have dedicated agents across the country – whether they specialize in investigating sexual abuse or domestic violence, whether they provide a uniformed response to immediate reports of violence, or whether agents and staff working on the other side of the our 999 calls are sitting.

“They work together to reassure and protect victims and bring violent perpetrators to justice.

“We know there are people who are uncomfortable reporting crimes to the police, and it’s up to us to gain and maintain trust.”