False Arundel rape claim earns woman £80 fine (From The Argus)

False Arundel rape claim earns woman £80 fine

9:04am Tuesday 12th June 2012 in News

A 26-year-old woman has been fined £80 for wasting police time after she told officers she had been raped.

Sussex Police received a call from the woman to say that she had been assaulted near Arundel Station shortly before midnight on Saturday.

A full scale police investigation was launched on Sunday morning with police officers scouring the surrounding fields for clues.

Nearby residents described several officers with grass strim- mers cutting back the hedgerow as specialists with blue gloves on their hands and knees picked around for evidence.

However, officers said that the area was no longer a crime scene on Sunday afternoon after receiving fresh information.

The woman was interviewed again on Sunday evening and admitted she had lied.

She was handed an £80 fine for wasting police time.