Sophie Pointon, 22, told police officers that she had been sexually assaulted in the back of the cab she had been picked up in after a night out in Leeds city centre
A criminology student was bantering online with a friend shortly after she falsely accused a taxi driver of groping her.
Sophie Pointon, 22, whose dream was to become a police officer, falsely claimed she had been groped in the back of the cab she had been picked up in after a night out in Leeds and has been jailed for 16 months.
She rang 999 in the early hours of April 22 this year and continued the deception by signing a statement, giving an account of the ‘attack’.
It emerged today that she was exchanging messages in jest with a friend, Layla Rees, on Facebook shortly after telling the police she was attacked.
Ms Rees commented on one of Pointon’s photos with a horse: ‘what the f*** you freak.’
Pointon replied: ‘Excuse me??’
Ms Rees posted back: ‘you heard me attenborough (sic).’
Pointon then quipped: ‘at one with nature u urban s**t x’
Ms Rees said: ‘find me behind Aldi with me bag’ o ‘tinnies.’
And Pointon concluded the exchange, saying: ‘Standard regular occurrence.’
The joking comments came just minutes after she falsely told police she had been groped by a father-of-five taxi driver who refused to accept a student’s kebab-soaked £10 note for religious reasons.
The man revealed he was shunned by his local Muslim community after she lied that he sexually assaulted her.
Leeds Crown Court heard the driver, a father-of-five, was tracked down and kept in custody for six hours.
In a moving impact statement he described how the claims had left his life in tatters but her spurious accusations.
The Asian father-of-five told the court through a personal impact statement that he was a practising Muslim – and the accusations had caused him to be shunned.
It emerged today that she was exchanging messages in jest with a friend, Layla Rees, on Facebook shortly after telling the police she was attacked
The joking comments with Ms Rees (pictured) came just minutes after Pointon falsely told police she had been groped by a father-of-five taxi driver who refused to accept a student’s kebab-soaked £10 note for religious reasons
He was also banned from entering the homes of his colleagues and friends.
He said: ‘I am now extremely reluctant to take lone females in case I am accused again.
‘The girl who accused me is the same age as my own daughter – I cannot comprehend why she made this allegation.
‘I feel religiously tainted from this, and no help from the police or the courts can help that.
‘Friends stopped speaking to me and letting me in to their homes. People in my community do not even want to be seen with me.’
Pointon broke down in tears and asked if she could drop the charges when her account was challenged by police
Pointon(whose home is pictured) broke down in tears and asked if she could drop the charges when her account was challenged by police
But the case against him never even went to court, as a telephone recording of the incident, with his taxi firm, cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Pointon pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was handed a prison sentence yesterday.
Kate Bisset, prosecuting, said the driver was interviewed and said he could recall Pointon being ‘extremely drunk’ when she got into his car holding a kebab.
He said Pointon threw £10 note at him when they reached the Hyde Park area but he refused to accept it as it was covered in oil from the kebab.
The driver said Pointon, who graduated this summer with a BA Honours in criminology from Leeds Beckett University, then became abusive and ran around the car opening doors.
The prosecutor said: ‘He did not think much of it at the time because such incident with people who are intoxicated are not unusual.’
A recording of a conversation between the driver and a phone operator at his taxi office supported his account.
Pointon said her hopes of becoming a police officer were now ruined. She was jailed for 16 months
Pointon threw £10 at him when they reached the Hyde Park area but he refused to accept it as it was covered in oil from the kebab
The taxi driver who refused to accept a tenner lathered in kebab juices due to his strict religion says the incident made him feel ‘religiously tainted’.
The court heard a GPS tracker fitted to the car also revealed Pointon’s description of the taxi journey to be untrue.
Pointon broke down in tears and asked if she could drop the charges when her account was challenged by police.
She pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice. Denise Breen-Lawton, mitigating, said Pointon, from Manchester, had been studying in Leeds at the time.
She pleaded guilty to perverting justice. Denise Breen-Lawton, mitigating, said Pointon, from Manchester, had been studying in Leeds at the time
Sophie Pointon pleaded guilty to perverting justice at Leeds Crown Court (pictured) yesterday
She grew up in a £250,000 semi-detached home, owned by her parents, in a Victorian suburban street.
She said her hopes of becoming a police officer were now ruined. Yesterday, she was jailed for 16 months.
Judge Christopher Batty told her: ‘Your malicious complaint has done a huge disservice to those seeking justice through the police and courts.’
The driver was stripped of his taxi licence for four weeks during the investigation into the claims.
He described in a statement how the false allegation had caused him to suffer from stress.