Katie Davis was 16 when she said that a balaclava-clad man had raped her in an alley-way. In fact she had spent the night with a man she met inthe street, and made up the rape story because she was afraid that she might be pregnant.

Frank Chisholm was charged with rape, had three bail applications rejected and was held in prison for ten weeks. The case was dropped only after scientific evidence supported his explanation that they had consensual sex at his home in St Leonards, East Sussex.

Davis, now 18, was convicted last month of perverting the course of justice and yesterday began her sentence in a young offender institution.

The shop assistant showed no emotion when sentenced by Judge Richard Brown, who said that her “wicked lies” continued to have a dramatic effect on the life of Mr Chisholm, 24, a railway labourer.

In a statement read after the verdict, Mr Chisholm 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. This seems like a nightmare that will never end.”

Since the case, vandals have targeted his home and shouted abuse at him in the street.

Mr Chisholm had been walking home after a night out drinking in Hastings in March last year when he met Davis. He told the court: “I don’t remember the conversation we had but I invited her in and showed her around. We just got carried away.”

They had unprotected sex and when he woke the next morning, she had left. He failed to recall the events of the previous evening until he found her work badge on his floor.

Davis, also of St Leonards, claimed that she had been raped, and DNA evidence resulted in Mr Chisholm being arrested a week later. But the charge was dropped after fibres found on her fleece were scientifically examined. They showed that her jacket had come into prolonged contact with Mr Chisholm’s duvet cover. He was released.

The week-long trial at Lewes Crown Court was told that Davis invented the false rape allegation because she feared that she could be pregnant. She stuck by her story in the face of scientific evidence, and insisted that she had never been to Mr Chisholm’s house.

Police said that inconsistencies and discrepancies in her story were never explained, leaving them to cast serious doubt on her allegation. Davis said initially that her attacker confronted her from the front but later said that he approached her from the right-hand side. She also contradicted herself over whether or not she had resisted. Two witnesses saw her walking with Mr Chisholm’s arm around her that evening.

James Eaton, defending Davis, said that she believed no one would be charged when she first made the allegation, and had learnt her lesson.

But the judge said that Mr Chisholm’s family had suffered considerably, adding: “You were responsible for him being in prison for several weeks and when you pursued those wicked lies you put him through the trauma of giving evidence in your trial.”

Mr Chisholm’s father, Steven, said after the verdict: “Over the last 18 months our lives have been absolutely turned upside down by all of this. We have had to fight hammer and tong to get this far and to see justice done at last.

“The verdict is small comfort for Frank. He is very subdued and very reclusive and doesn’t want to speak to anyone at the moment. What we want and need to do now is to build Frank back up because this has taken a terrible toll on him emotionally.”

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