A "serial liar" who invented false rape and sexual assault allegations has failed in a bid to clear her name.
Jemma Beale, 27, from Hounslow, west London, was jailed for 10 years in August 2017 after claiming she was sexually assaulted by six men and raped by nine over the space of three years. She challenged her convictions for perjury and perverting the course of justice and her sentence. Her bid was rejected by three judges at the Court of Appeal.
Beale's lawyer Gillian Jones QC argued the trial judge should have given the jury directions about the "danger of assumptions, myths and stereotypes" relating to victims of sexual offences. She also argued that the loss of her anonymity, which led to intense media scrutiny, caused prejudice to Beale's defence. In rejecting the appeal bid, Lady Justice Hallett said such directions usually applied to victims, not defendants, and that even if the judge had given guidance it would not have helped Beale.
The judges also dismissed an appeal by Beale against her sentence, saying hers was an "exceptional case". 'Lied to get money' Lady Justice Hallett said that, as well as the men Beale falsely accused, the "system of justice" had suffered significant harm.
She added: "The total of 10 years, although stern, we are satisfied cannot be described as excessive." The judge told the court that one of the men Beale accused of rape in 2010, Mahad Cassim, was tried twice and jailed for seven years.
His conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2015 after his defence team and the Crown Prosecution Service was alerted to serious doubts over Beale's allegations.
She had been awarded £11,000 by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and had told a former girlfriend she had lied to get the money, the court heard.
Lady Justice Hallett said: "The idea that a woman could send an innocent man to prison for years solely so she could obtain compensation beggars belief."
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