A teenager who condemned an innocent man to ten weeks in prison after falsely claiming she had been raped by a masked stranger in an alleyway is facing jail.

Katie Davis, 18, had sex with Frank Chisholm at his home after meeting him in the street on the night of March 6 last year.

Lewes Crown Court was told she invented the rape allegation as she feared she could be pregnant after having unprotected sex with Mr Chisholm, a former railway labourer.

A police investigation led to Mr Chisholm being charged with rape after DNA evidence linked him to Davis, who was 16 at the time and claimed to be a virgin.

Mr Chisholm, 24, denied raping her, saying they had consensual sex at his home in Battle Road, St Leonards.

He was held on remand at Lewes Prison for six weeks, having had three applications for bail rejected, before scientific evidence emerged that led to the case against him being dropped.

Davis, of Blackman Avenue, St Leonards, broke down yesterday as she was found guilty of perverting the course of justice after the jury spent an hour deliberating.

Judge Richard Brown told Davis that a custodial sentence would be inevitable, describing her actions as "wicked and evil".

She collapsed into the arms of relatives as she emerged from the dock after Judge Brown ordered pre-sentence and psychiatric reports before her sentencing next month.

Judge Brown said Mr Chisholm - who was not in court to hear the verdict - did not have a stain on his character.

He told Davis: "This was a wicked and evil offence, the likelihood of which is that you will serve a custodial sentence."

In a witness impact statement read after the verdict, Mr Chisholm described how being charged with rape changed him forever.

He said: "I used to be an outgoing, personable and sociable person.

"Now I can't bear to go out and I'm very wary of girls and have lost my trust."

Mr Chisholm said he had faced reprisals since the case, with vandals targeting his home and shouting abuse at him in the street.

He explained how facing prison had made him nervous and paranoid and that he had heard stories of inmates having their throats slashed in the showers.

After the verdict his father Steve told The Argus: "We have got what we wanted - a guilty verdict. My son has been proved innocent."

He declined to comment on any punishment Davis should receive.

He said: "I leave the sentence to the courts."

During the week-long trial, the jury heard the rape charge was dropped after fibres found on Davis's fleece showed it had come into direct and prolonged contact with the duvet cover on Mr Chisholm's bed.

The Crown claimed the evidence discounted Davis's claim she was raped in an alleyway. However, Davis stuck by her story in the face of the forensic evidence and insisted she had never met Mr Chisholm nor been to his house. She told police in interview: "I was the victim in all of this and you have made me out to be the criminal in all of this."

Davis failed to explain the inconsistencies and discrepancies in her version of events.

Detective Constable Shoni Grant, of Sussex Police, said Davis initially said her attacker had confronted her from the front but later claimed he had approached her from her right-hand side.

In addition, Davis claimed she had struggled with the rapist but later said she had not resisted him.

Davis also failed to explain two witness sightings of her walking up Blackman Avenue with Mr Chisholm's arm around her.

Ms Grant said the series of discrepancies and inconsistencies in Davis's accounts led police to cast "serious doubt" on her allegation.

Giving evidence at the trial, Mr Chisholm said the allegations against him had made him "angry and upset".

He told the court he had been drunk after spending the evening in several pubs in Hastings town centre. After getting a taxi back to his house, he visited his mother's home nearby before leaving at about 11.45pm.

During his ten-minute walk back home to Battle Road, he met Davis, who he recognised as working in a local One Stop Shop in Blackman Avenue.

He said: "I don't remember the conversation we had but I invited her in and showed her around.

"We just got carried away and got into it, to be honest with you."

Mr Chisholm said they started off kissing on his bed before they stripped off and had unprotected sex.

He said he fell asleep during intercourse before waking up the next morning to find her gone.

He added that he failed to recollect the events of the previous evening until he found her work badge on his floor.

He said Davis did not take much persuading when he invited her into his house and that sex between them was consensual.

The court was told that house-to-house inquiries were made after the police were informed a 16-year-old girl had been raped by a balaclava-clad man in an alleyway off Battle Road that same night.

Mr Chisholm said he did not make a connection between their inquiries and what happened with the girl at his house when officers called.

A week later, Mr Chisholm was arrested on suspicion of rape and later charged.

Detective Sergeant Geoff Childs said the force regretted that Mr Chisholm had been held in custody for six weeks.

But he said both the force and the Crown Prosecution Service believed there was sufficient evidence to pursue a rape case based on Davis's claims.

He said: "Sussex Police investigates all allegations of rape in a professional and sympathetic manner but equally we are robust in our dealings with false allegations."

Davis was released on conditional bail to reappear in court for sentencing on November 13.