UK: Couple jailed after falsely accusing man of rape
Couple jailed after falsely accusing man of rape
A couple who conspired to falsely accuse an innocent man of rape have been jailed after the CPS brought charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice against them.
Naomi Kabasele, 23, and her husband Leon Kabasele, 38, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice and were sentenced at Wood Green Court today (26 September 2018). Leon Kabasele was sentenced to two years in prison and his wife received 16 months.
Jason Bishop, of the CPS Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team, said: “False allegations of rape or sexual assault are rare, but extremely serious as they can damage lives and can undermine the credibility of genuine victims.
“Genuine victims should never fear coming forward as the CPS will not prosecute somebody simply because for instance there may be discrepancies in the evidence or if a jury finds the defendant not guilty.
“However Naomie Kabasele and Leon Kabasele deliberately chose to lie and the allegations were provably false.”
The CPS guidance on perverting the course of justice in relation to false accusations of rape is available on our website.
Leon Kabasele called police on 12 September 2016 and told police “a guy came to rape my wife”.
He told police that a man ran into their flat in Tottenham as the door was open and “grabbed his wife and daughter into the bed” and, hearing screams, he entered the flat but the man pushed him and ran away.
He later identified and named him as a person who both the Kabaseles knew.
Naomie Kabasele gave an interview to police saying that the named man had tried to rape her.
Naomi Kabasele
The man was arrested and interviewed but was able to prove he was at work at the time of the alleged rape. CCTV of the outside of the Kabasele’s flat showed no-one had entered or left the flat.
Prosecutors also considered a series of previous inconsistent allegations made by the couple before making the decision to charge them.
