June 22, 2011
A teenage girl from the Bolton area who lied about being raped by a taxi driver has been sentenced.
The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted perverting the course of justice.
At Bolton Crown Court, she was sentenced to 12 months in a young offenders institution.
The court heard that early on January 8, a 34-year-old taxi driver picked up the girl from a taxi rank in Farnworth after she had been returned by a colleague who suspected she would not pay her fare.
He took the girl to her home in the Bolton area and, when she admitted having no cash, agreed to retain her ring at the taxi base until the next day when the fare could be paid.
The girl returned home and told her mother she had been raped by the taxi driver.
Police were called and an investigation was launched.
The man was arrested and his car seized for forensic examination. CCTV footage from the taxi base was recovered and witness statements taken from the man's colleagues.
He was interviewed several times and spent 12 hours in police custody before being released on bail.
The girl was taken to hospital and had several appointments made for her to see a doctor and councillor at St Mary's specialist centre in Manchester.