Man who made up gay rape jailed for 10 months

Craigavon Crown Court Judge Patrick Lynch QC said he was jailing Lisburn man Kevin Beeton despite a guilty plea and remorse.

Judge Lynch said the courts regarded the offence as serious, not only for the distress to the victim, but also the serious effect it could have on those making genuine claims.

The judge told Beeton that his false allegations against his former boyfriend were an act of “vengeance”.

Beeton, from Lawnmount Crescent, pleaded guilty to doing an act with intent to pervert the course of public justice on New Years’s Eve, 2015, in reporting to police he was raped by a male, which he knew to be false.

Prosecution barrister Joseph Murphy said in the early hours of December 31, Beeton made an emergency 999 call claiming that he was the victim of a rape. He later told police that he’d been attacked by a former boyfriend.

His former lover was arrested and detained for 12 hours.

The man was able to provide an alibi, backed up by two others. Beeton later admitted making up the allegation because he “simply wasn’t thinking straight”.

He also apologised for wasting the 170 hours police had spent on their investigations at a cost just short of £3,000.

Defence barrister Peter Coiley said Beeton’s guilty plea was an indication “of his genuine remorse”.

Beeton, said Mr Coiley, had wanted “to get back at the victim” and had made an impulsive call to the police.