A mum-of-eight made up a false claim of rape in order to get attention and sympathy from her straying partner, a court heard.

Judge Simon Carr said it was “by pure luck” that the man she accused was captured on CCTV at work and was then seen picking up a takeaway at the same time the alleged rape was meant to have been taking place.

Amee Bettison has now been jailed for perverting the course of justice after pleading guilty to the charge.

Truro Crown Court was told that the 29-year-old had taken part in a series of police interviews, making up an elaborate story of alleged abuse, and even had swabs taken to continue the falsehood before officers became suspicious due to so much evidence supporting the man’s denials.

Even then, when told about this evidence, Bettison said she wished to withdraw the allegation but only because she couldn’t “cope with the stress” of it, initially continuing to maintain it was true and suggesting she may have got the time or date wrong.

The crime dated back to October 2016, although Bettison was only charged last year – something Judge Carr described as a “catastrophic failure” on the part of the Crown Prosecution Service and police.

Prosecutor Ed Bailey said police received a call from Bettison’s partner on October 13, 2016 reporting that she had been raped two days earlier by a man she knew.

Later that same evening police arrested the accused man at his family home, which “greatly distressed his mother.”

His mobile phone and clothes were seized and intimate samples were taken. It was not until the following day that he found out what the allegation was against him.

Mr Bailey said the man had to explain to his girlfriend why he had no mobile phone, with the allegations putting a strain on their relationship, as well as inform his place of work of his arrest.

The man was also in the middle of a custody hearing, hoping to gain access to see his young daughter, and this was put on hold while the allegation was being investigated, also costing him £900 in solicitor fees.

Finally, in March 2017 he was told there would be no further action against him. In a statement afterwards he said: “I feel like this will affect me forever.”

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In mitigation, Rachel Drake said the claim came “at a time of personal crisis” for Bettison, who at that point had two children under the age of two and was pregnant with her third at the age of 23, while being in a “coercive and controlling” relationship.

At that time her partner had left the relationship and connected with someone else, with Ms Drake saying: “She made the allegation in an attempt to attract his attention and sympathy back towards her.”

She said it wasn’t Bettison’s intention for the police to get involved, with the partner reporting it rather than her, adding: “It wasn’t a false allegation motivated by malice towards him in particular.”

However, Judge Carr described her actions as “unforgivable,” saying: “The person you made the allegation against was a real person.

“You described in graphic detail a violent and sustained rape, in which you claimed to be the victim of terrible abuse. You gave details of times and places. It was a complex, and at first reading compelling, description of being raped by someone you knew.

“The effect upon him was devastating.

“It was by pure luck that the allegation did not go further, because he was able to provide an explanation of where he was at the time you said the rape occurred.

“Without that I have no doubt it would have continued to trial and possibly conviction.”

He went on to add that it was not just the man who was a victim, and who would “no doubt live with the “consequences of this for the rest of his life,” but that actions such as these “questions all prosecutions.”

“The legitimate rape victims who come forward will have pointed at them ‘But people make it up’.

“It undermines a serious offence and in part reflects the conviction rates we're all aware of.”

Judge Carr acknowledged that Bettison had a difficult start to life, with her parents’ actions effectively forcing her to fend for herself from the age of 13.

He said the “great success in her life” was her ability to raise her eight children, now doing it on her own since their father left 14 months ago, and he described her as “an excellent mother” in “nigh on impossible circumstances.”

He also acknowledged the impact on her children if she was sent to prison, but said the offence was so serious that only custody would be appropriate.

Bettison, of Pool Street, Bodmin, was sentenced to three years in prison and must serve at least half before being eligible for release to serve the remainder on licence.

The court was told that her children’s grandparents would step in to take care of them and Judge Carr said: “I genuinely hope that is successful.”