Mother jailed for false rape claim

9:59am Thursday 28th August 2008

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A MOTHER-OF-ONE who lied about being raped by a devout Muslim taxi driver has been given an eight-month jail term.

Joanne Rye, of Sheridan Court, Dartford, was sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court on August 22.

She was due to stand trial on a charge of perverting the course of justice but pleaded guilty before it began.

The court heard the 20-year-old had made the complaint 20 months ago, when she was 18. She had alleged she had been raped by cab driver Sherekhan Kali, who worked for All Night Car Hire in Dartford.

Rye, who was regarded by the taxi firm as a troublemaker, had been banned from using its cabs.

The court heard one week prior to Rye making the rape allegation, she had been involved in an incident in which she has used racially insulting language against Mr Kali.

On October 21, 2006, Rye made her complaint to police after being taken to hospital drunk and claiming she was suffering from an asthma attack.

She told police the rape took place after Mr Kali had dragged her down an alleyway and she had been in his cab a week before, which is how she recognised him.

Prosecutor Valeria Swift told the court the GPS system in Mr Kali's taxi indicated he had not been near to the place where Rye alleged the rape had taken place.

The court was also told of CCTV footage which showed she was drunk on the night of the alleged rape.

This was said to be further proof the alleged incident could not have happened in the way she had described it.

The court heard Rye had a five-month-old baby and her own mother would have to look after the child if she was jailed.

Judge Crawford Lindsay told Rye he was imposing a "modest sentence".

He said: "I consider this to be a despicable offence. You made an allegation this entirely innocent taxi driver had raped you."

The judge also said Mr Kali was a strict Muslim and had to have intimate samples taken from him as part of the investigation.