Aberdeenshire false rape accuser has jail sentence cut

A woman who falsely accused a man of raping her has had her prison sentence cut after an appeal.

Susan Stewart, 35, told police she had been attacked in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, in December 2018.

However, she later admitted wasting police time and was sentenced to 14 months at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh have now reduced the sentence to nine months on the grounds the jail term was too long.

Stewart was jailed in October.

Sheriff Ian Wallace heard how she concocted the story after the man told her he was more interested in one of her relatives.

Stewart then went to a police station and gave a statement to detectives.

Sheriff Wallace told the first-time offender that the circumstances of the offence meant a custodial term was the only sentence which could be imposed in the circumstances.

Advocate Sarah Loosemore told appeal judges Lord Woolman and Lady Wise that Sheriff Wallace could have dealt with Stewart by imposing a non-custodial sentence on her.

However, the appeal judges ruled that Sheriff Wallace was correct in his assessment that Stewart had to be sent to jail.

But they ruled that Sheriff Wallace’s jail term was too long given the circumstances of the case.