Student jailed for falsely accusing a taxi driver of sexual assault

She was sentenced to 16 months in prison


A Leeds Beckett student has been jailed for 16 months for falsely accusing a taxi driver of sexual assault after he refused to accept a kebab-soaked £10 note as payment.

The court heard that Sophie Pointon, a criminology student, told officers she had been assaulted in the back of the taxi after being picked up in the city centre.

However, evidence contradicted her story, which she later begged to be withdrawn despite having signed a statement.

The Hyde Park area of Leeds, where Pointon was dropped by the taxi

The driver said he could recall Pointon being “extremely drunk” when she got into his car carrying her kebab, and when they reached the Hyde Park area of Leeds Pointon threw a ten pound note at him which he refused to accept it as it was soaked in oil from the kebab.

After this, the driver said Pointon, who had dreamed of becoming a police officer, then became abusive and ran around the car opening doors.

Pointon initially rang the police in the early hours of April 22nd, and even signed a statement with an account of the sexual attack.

The prosecutor said: “He did not think much of it at the time because such incident with people who are intoxicated are not unusual.”

However, the father of five was later arrested and held in custody for six hours, unable to work for four weeks, and said he was shunned by friends as a result of the claim.

A recording of a conversation between the driver and a phone operator at his taxi office supported his account as well as a GPS tracker fitted to the car corroborating the driver’s story and Pointon’s to be false.

When her account was challenged by police, Pointon broke down in tears and asked to drop all of the charges.

Charges against the driver were dropped, however police charged her with perverting the course of justice.

Judge Christopher Batty told her: “Your malicious complaint has done a huge disservice to those seeking justice through the police and courts.”