Sentence welcomed for girl who cried rape

[icwales.com.uk] - A voluntary organisation today welcomed the detainment of a teenager for crying rape.

Cinzia Sannino, 18, of Llanishen, Cardiff, was locked up for six months at Cardiff Crown Court after she admitted making false allegations.

In December, following a night out, the teenager had entertained four men in a Cardiff Bay flat with a private lap dance – which was filmed on a mobile phone.

But she later claimed to police that she had been raped after asking officers for a lift home.

Prosecutor Chris Lewis last week told the court how the men were kept in police custody for 36 hours – but the video of the lap dance was produced to prove the men's innocence.

Sannino withdrew the complaint and admitted to carrying out an act intended to pervert the course of justice.


The court heard she had been drinking alcohol and could not remember much about what happened.


She was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution by Mr Justice Roderick Evans last Friday.


A spokeswoman for the voluntary False Allegations Support Organisation (FASO) today welcomed the punishment.


She said: "Up to now girls who falsely accuse have had nothing done to them.


"I would welcome this course of action because at the moment there are too many people jumping on the bandwagon as they are aware they can get compensation for false accusations.


"It's not fair on the girls who have actually been raped.


"The police often waste their time looking into cases like this when there are girls out there who have actually been raped."


She added: "I'm happy that the deterrent that has been there all the time is beginning to be used because very few, up until now, have been taken to court."


Earlier this month a man jailed for five years for a sex attack had his conviction quashed after fresh evidence pointed to his "victim" being a liar.


Warren Blackwell, 36, of Byfield Road, Woodford Halse, Northamptonshire, was found guilty at Northampton Crown Court in October 1999 of indecently assaulting the woman.


The woman claimed that she was attacked in the early hours of New Year's Day 1999 after leaving a party at a social club.


Mr Blackwell was jailed for three years and, in March 2002, the Court of Appeal refused his application for permission to appeal and increased his sentence to five years following an application by the Attorney General.


In June 2004, the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, asked Northamptonshire Police to assist in reviewing the case and the conviction was subsequently referred back.


In the Court of Appeal, Lady Justice Hallett, Mr Justice Silber and Mr Justice Tugendhat declared Mr Blackwell's conviction "unsafe" in the light of the Commission's report, which referred to new evidence relating to the credibility of the complainant.