Nope, she should be named, she should pay his legal fees, and all of this should land on her parents as well.

Where the hell where they? You let your teenager roll around the streets drunk? And then you believe anything a drunk teenager has to say?

They all owe this man his life back, which will never be the same again.

You raise a shitty kid, you should pay for the crime as well.

Fuck this bitch.

Two months? She should be named and given two years. Pay expenses to him and his family, and live with the harm that caused.

Wonder what Tawana Brawley's doing these days.

Carve her twat out!

I SAID I WAS SORRY, JESUS

I JUST DIDN'T WANT TO GET GROUNDED

LEAVE ME ALONE, NO ONE BUT THE STUPID CABBIE GOT HURT, AND WHO CARES ABOUT HIM ANYWAY

When did scanner become a sounding board for misogynist cavemen? This girl's crime was being drunk and confused. It is an unfortunate situation, no doubt- but it is this kind of backlash against those who allege rape that makes it so that the vast majority of rapes are never reported and even fewer are prosecuted. If your daughter came home and told you she had been raped- it is a parents responsibility not only to believe her, but to become an advocate on her behalf- whether she is a drunken teenager or not. Shame on all of you.

My sister accused me of rape.  It turns out she had a roommate in college who had been molested and somehow she remembered that she had been too.  She told my parents who approached me about it.  I was floored, angry, confused as to why my sister would say this, and fearful for the well being of my wife and children.  Although she can't recall the circumstances, nor the time within a couple years, or any real details, this in her mind is real, and it brings doubt and shame on me.  The general time frame she quoted places me in a city I lived in over a thousand miles away but she insists.  I believe she has FMS (False Memory Syndrome)but I can never trust her again.  I haven't spoken to her in years, I've turned my back to may parents and extended family, I drink too much in the evenings over this.  I have some understanding of what this guy's gone through and nobody can ever give him his life back.

So much hypocritical bullshit, why protect a lying bitch like this? Just show you how fucked up people are.

Sure she made a mistake. That being said, if the cabbie had raped her, would he have gotten off by simply saying he made a mistake. The truth of the matter is, you have to live with the mistakes you make, and at times make restitution for them. She was drinking when she shouldn't have been, that led to confusion in which she screwed up someone's life. For most of these comments, it is not misogyny that drives them, but general fear that someone could make those (false) claims, and then get off with a proverbial slap on the wrist when they are found out.

At the very least, she should be made to compensate him for damages to his character and lost income.

"When did scanner become a sounding board for misogynist cavemen? This girl's crime was being drunk and confused. It is an unfortunate situation, no doubt ... If your daughter came home and told you she had been raped- it is a parents responsibility not only to believe her, but to become an advocate on her behalf- whether she is a drunken teenager or not. Shame on all of you."

What then, is a parents responsibility when they find out that their daughter, once realizing she was confused, continued to lie to the police destroying this mans reputation? Is there none?

She should MOST CERTAINLY be named and shamed. She RUINED someone's life merely because she, in an inebriated state, THOUGHT something had occurred? She should be put in the stocks.

Not only that but a two month sentence is HIGHLY inadequate. She should get AT LEAST 2 years in prison.

Shield laws be damned. An allegation of rape is a VERY serious thing and is not taken lightly by the law. As such, neither should the repercussions of making a false accusation.

If anything, rape claims should be taken LESS seriously with  greater repercussions for false allegations, while at the same time actual rape penalties should be increased several fold. The legal system is biased against men, where women are given lighter sentences for the same crime, merely on the fact they are women.

Many women (not all) resort to such tactics during a dispute such as claiming rape, assault, or kidnapping as a means to get even, that is a fact. Claims of domestic violence are REGULARLY used by women to get an order of protection during divorce proceedings as a purely strategic way of getting back at their male counter-part.

If everyone in society is truly equal, they should not only get the same benefits, but the same punishments as well. Women are now "more equal," than men in the eyes of the law.

@ venusinfurrrs

Are you fucking kidding me? Rape should be reported, if it happened. Done deal. This girl needs more than two months, and she needs to pay this guy back, and she needs to be humiliated publicly. Her and her whole family. Maybe that'll make her understand the kind of pain she caused this man.

venus, since when is it outrageous for society to expect a 17-year old girl to take responsibility for her actions? She went out and got herself drunk. She admits in the above quote to knowing that she was not raped, but not speaking up because she was afraid of getting in trouble. Her crime maybe have started out as being drunk and confused, but at some point she decided to lie and to put her own interests above a those of an honest man.  Its a situation like this which might make people hesitant to stop other girls who's crimes are being "drunk and confused". If this cabbie didn't take her home what would have happened?

she should be named, shamed and jailed. period.

I'm a bit confused. Shouldn't a rape kit have been the first thing done to the girl. Unless she had sex at the bar wouldn't that have nipped the whole allegation in the bud.

Also unless you have followed the trail throughout, sit the fuck down. One cannot judge right or wrong from a snippet on a blog. I'm sure the whole issues a bit more complicated then this.

Another case of how our justice system is skewed heavily towards women thanks to various popularist feminist ideologies.

There are countries that would charge a 16 year old as an adult; I see no reason why this shouldn't be the case here. There are worse things than teaching responsibility to a self serving girl. Shaming and naming is a lot less than she deserves, in my opinion.

@ Venusinfurrrs: And does killing someone while drunk and confused make you any less guilty of the crime? Hardly. That is a shunting of culpability. More to the point, even after she sobered up she continued with allegations. This is not the first case like this, nor will it be the last. Men have been put in prison for false rape accusations and more than one life has been wrecked because of incidents like this. This has nothing to do with misogynism but a great deal to do with common decency. Even if a great deal of rape cases are never reported, that has nothing to do with this girl's actions. She wasn't braving social criticism by reporting a false rape, she was trying to escape her own responsibility of facing up to lying while illegally drunk.

This backlash is part of the larger first and second wave feminist movement. Feminism has gone beyond the point of simply wanting equality between the sexes. They want excess legal protection which is then abused, as in cases like this. It may not be stated explicitly in fine writing, but our justice system weighs heavily towards women anyways for fear of being accused sexist.

I received a case of statutory rape of a 17 year old male by a 23 year old female a while back. The case was eventually dropped because the parents of the male simply couldn't keep dealing with it. Their lives were hammered, exhausted, and broken. They were wealthy so their finances weren't trampled, as is often the case, but it was a singularly traumatic experience for the kid in particular. I still stay in contact with him and he has difficulty meeting new people and making friends. There literally is very little justice for men where sex or marriage is involved; the only exception being when female teachers have sex with their students.

Women raping men are even less reported because they aren't believed. A man claiming a woman raped him receives scoffs and incredulity at best. This is a miscarriage of justice.

Why is there no shield laws for both the alleged victim and alleged culprit?  That would alleviate the situation - to an extent - and allow the real victim in this case to lead a relatively normal life instead of being known as the guy who actually didn't rape that one girl.

This girls crime was not being drunk and confused, it was willfully making false accusations of rape. A crime that will have devastating consequences on anyone accused of it whether true or not.

This backlash is not merely directed at someone that alleged rape. its directed at someone that intentionally lied about being raped. Its a significant difference and I would hope that anyone would be hesitant about doing such a thing.

Her actions do not help others who have REAL issues with rape either. Those who lie about being raped make it more difficult for those who have actually been raped to get their claims taken seriously.

Yes parents should give a child benefit of the doubt but I'm not blaming the parents for believing her. I'm blaming the girl for intentionally ruining a mans life and making it harder for rape victims to file reports.

Venus, no shame on you for being a moron.

Wow. Grand, sweeping generalizations make for such unpleasant and unintelligent discourse.

Aside from the victim of her false allegations himself, the people this girl has done the greatest disservice to are actual rape victims. Every time someone like her makes a false accusation like this, she undermines the credibility of every truthful accuser.

There's a huge imbalance of power between the sexes in sexual misconduct allegations, as this case demonstrates. I think many men have experienced this first or second hand, so it hits a Hooksexup. The anger you're seeing here is similar to anger you see from other groups in situations where they feel powerless as a group. Just as with other groups, that anger can lead them to get carried away.

Some folks might argue that this imbalance of power just makes up for the fact that men obviously have the power advantage in actual rape scenarios, so this somehow "counterbalances" it. The problem with this thinking is that it pits "groups" against one another who don't want to be morally aligned. I'm a male, e.g., but I'm not "with" the rapists against women. So, if a woman gets off virtually scot-free for falsely accusing a man, that doesn't counterbalance a rape for my team, because my team is only men who DON'T rape.

However, I COULD be part of the group that is falsely accused. So, I get no benefit from rape power, but all the risk from women's false accusation power.

I'm afraid it's not just fear, or just misogyny, or just some innate sense of justice.  Why would it be that simple?  Why would you choose just one?

It's not misogyny to say that someone who makes a false claim (of any sort) that damages another person should be punished for doing so.  Yes, it's not just probably misogyny to say "Carve her twat out!".

Fear is probably part of it - this is asymmetrical "warfare" at its best - I can take an action that, IF I get caught, will cost me 2 months, but if I don't will cost you years and years in jail, and in either case will cost you a small fortune and your reputation.  There's something there to be afraid of, if you think about it even a little bit.

Brian there will always be people with narrow visions of the world and a place for them to share that opinion of small worth.  But why even try to close them out.  Let them be seen - they're out there in the real world, and wouldn't you rather know?

Girls like this one who make false allegations of rape do a great disservice to all other women who actually are victims of rape. Her name should be revealed so that everyone can be wary of her. She is unworthy of anyone's trust.

@BobbyBrown:

Allow me to rewrite your comment to reflect the priorities more emphatically:

"The WORST damage this girl has done is to the innocent victim of her false allegation. That puts everything else in the shade. However, the potential chilling effect upon bonafide rape victims (although it runs a distant second)  should also be given due consideration."

Liars and thieves can cause more damage!  At age seventeen, she knew what she was doing and therefore, she should be tried as an adult and pay him back all the costs of the trial.  This day and age it's hard to have control over your children and with whom they are associating with.  I don't blame the parents except in teaching her right from wrong.  She should pay for the consequences.  They probably taught her, but she likes that excitement of living on the edge.  Well, letting her serve time would be a good discouragement and not for a measley 2 months!  Ahmed will have suspicions about if he really did it or not for the rest of his life even if he was proven not guilty!  Completely unfair!!!

Never mind name and shame the girl, name and shame the judges who give these stupid sentences. Once we see enough "Senile Judge Joe botches another trial" headlines in the Sun we may persuade TPTB that these people shouldn't be pulling the strings.

I agree with Anne.  That 14 year old boy who was 'raped' by an adult teacher a few years ago, the day he turned 18 was ordered to pay her child support. The victim was ordered to go to work to send money to the criminal.

So, I have no problem forcing a 17 year old to start paying her victim money the day she becomes an adult.

I think it's called equality.

I think people are forgetting a very important detail of the story here.  At least according to her quotation at the end of the blog entry, she realized she had made a mistake and didn't do anything about it!  This is really why she (well, mainly her parents, as she is a minor) should be punished.  The underage drinking and the lie were certainly bad enough, but hiding the truth (to not embarrass herself?!) when another person is suffering because of it is unforgivable.

This happens, but it's not that common. She was a drunk, stupid, scared kid. Women are often attacked in public spaces, especially by strange men. She should have come forward, but... again, she was a stupid kid. It happens. 2 months ought to set her straight.

Worse case scenario, she doesn't wise up, and gets a kit. They don't find any DNA. If they do, it doesn't match cabbie. No foul. This is justice, folks. It's not perfect, but it's the best we got-- go study our 2000 years of functional law if you want to fix it.

So.  When I was in 7th grade, I was late for shop class and I told my shop teacher that I had been hit by a car.  I don't know why I said it, it was the first thing that came to my mind.  I didn't realize it was a big deal.  Well, they started looking for the white torrino that had hit me.  

And they found one.  

Long story short, there was an embarrassing confession and a sincere desire to die under a rock.  It was awful.  An important lesson was learned though.

Cut this girl some slack.  She's 17.  She may have almost ruined someone's life but that doesn't mean she's malicious.  

stupid bitch

OMG 2 months is not enuf!  She deserves way more!!  

She was the one who was drunk and lied; and caused damage.  She should pay for it; it cannot be, upon the presence of a scintilla of fairness, the taxi driver's burden!

This chick deserves to be executed. How dare she throw around these alligations like its no big thing! She should die.

I'm I the only one who sees an equitable solution?  What's the going rate for intercourse with a 17 yr old hot enough to want to rape? Calculate his monetary loss and divide by that.  She gets to sleep with him that many times.  He can post a video of the consensual interaction and everyone can see he is innocent.  What's wrong with that?  Money repaid in service and fame restored (or enhanced depending on how he does.)  I mean, duh.

Yes, she's young and stupid.  That's not license to let her get away with whatever you want.  If you evade taxes, DUI and injure/kill somebody, steal, whatever, the law doesn't let you off for being "young and stupid".

My main concern is that her sentence in no way involves restitution to the falsely-accused person.  He gets absolutely nothing out of this trial.  Vindication is worthless, as people will never see him the same way.  His family is probably extremely shaken up.  But she will spend two months in jail, wasting tax-payers' money, and no one but her friends and family will know how little she cares for the well-being of honest people.  Especially those who mistakenly try to help her.

At a bare minimum, she should be forced to pay all legal fees for the case (both his and her own).  Let her suffer with early debt, instead.  It'll teach her far more than taking complete care of her in a public facility at no expense.  In cases where it is proven that rape did not take place (with actual proof, instead of a judgement), accusers ought to make a public apology if names were released.  And there is little reason to release the name of the accusers and the accused to the bloodthirsty media until something has actually been proven.  If the media said anything biased, public apologies ought to be extracted from them, as well.

A person's reputation is the most valuable thing they have.  People spend years building that up and defining who they are.  Employment, contracts and relationships can be lost and obtained solely on the basis of a reputation.  I get pissed over speeding tickets with the wrong amount listed, or when people try to tell me what I think.  I would be absolutely infuriated at being publicly humiliated with rape allegations after attempting to assist a drunken, defenseless, possibly stupid person.  And if I found out that she knew that I was innocent and kept up the charade anyway, I would sick the legal attack hounds on her until her and her family were on their third mortgage.  I'd be needing it just to pick up the pieces of my life.

I think that she should be named.  If she's old enough to think she can be out drinking, and she's less than a year from legal adulthood, why the hell shouldn't she?  If she's going to chose to be irresponsible, she should suffer the consequences that come with her irresponsibility.  Less than twelve years from legal adult is plenty close enough to be convicted as an adult. Chances are she wouldn't have wisened up any in those twelve months had something like this hadn't happened, so why the babying?

I'm not sure if she should be named or not... I could argue it both ways in my head. I just hate the way that the media gets a free pass. Yet again.

Yes the girl falsely accused the man, but that in and of itself would not be enough to ruin his life and reputation. I believe it's the out of control media who then go and print the name and picture of the accused BEFORE any trial happens and all facts come to light should also bear some responsibility. There seems to be no such thing as responsible journalism any more and it sickens me.

How about all the newscasters who broadcast his name and image be made to bear some of the costs and pay damages?

They should let him rape her, then they would be even.

This is important to discuss--so don't delete the comments.

Think of how this case has shown how we have twisted the idea of victim.  The fact that we're arguing that she "made a mistake" shows how far we gone from personal responsibility.  She admits to have realized she wasn't raped before the cops came, but still took it to trial.  In what way does that make it an honest mistake?  She's decided that covering her ass is more important than some man's reputation, livelihood, and family.  

and let's not get started with the racial/cultural implications with this.

We had this happen over here in the States with the Duke Lacross "rape". I am reminded what one of the accused had said: when I die, no matter what I have done, this will part of my obituary.

Most jobs now in the US require a background check, and when you google Aftab Ahmed's name, he will forever come up as a rapist. A rape charge is a huge and very serious charge ( as it should be ). Due to the damage it can do to someone, shield laws should apply to both.  But there also should be a penalty for blatantly false acusations. At least give her name and let him sue the shit out of her.

For those saying she's only 17, she only made a mistake, consider that damage done to his life. She could have come clean at anytime. Instead she let him spend thousands, let him get dragged through the mud FOR HER MISTAKE! While I am not saying lock her away and throw away the key, there must be a punishment that fits the crime and 2 months does not cut it.

In the case of the Duke Lacross rape, once the charges where found to be false the accusers name was revealed (Crystal Mangum), and the accoused sued pretty much everyone involed, netting themselves around $10 mill each, and Ms Mangum? At least when you look her name up now you, you see her as the fraud that she is.

He lost thousands of pounds? Damn, he must be really fat.

She shouldn't have continued with it after she realized it didn't happen. Her fear of getting in trouble blocked out her ability to realize what would happen to the other person and that they had a life as well. She is also only 17 years old two months to her will be hell underwater and the flame is still going, but that doesn't make up for the fact she ruined someones life and their family's.

She should have to make it up not by having her life ruined as well because and eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. No, she should have to pay for his expenses that she caused. She should also do ALOT community service, get in trouble for drinking under age as well made to apologize to each and every one of his family members.

In a false allegation case like this the accuser should recieve the same punishment that the accused would have received, had he been found guilty.

I don't understand the people who defend her so vehemently, She was seventeen, young yes but not so young that she wouldn't know or understand the consequences of her actions also it is because of people like her that true victims of sexual assault often don't get taken seriously.

cut out her vagina, boil it, and then make her eat it.

The girls only real infraction was her shame-driven failure to drop the charges when she realized they were false. I served two months in jail near my 18th birthday, and they certainly didn't seem like a pittance. Don't they have civil proceedings in the UK? That's where this man should find his satisfaction, at least monetarily. As far as his reputation, some of the damage may be irreparable, but if the case has recieved this much publicity, there would be at least half that at the countersuit.

She's just going to party it up with her friends after she gets out of jail anyway, while this innocent man tries to get what he can of his life put back together.

I concur with Charlie.  She should be named, pay for all legal fees and be required to make a public apology in the newspaper - with her photo!  That way, no one will be taken in by the lying bitch again.  Venusinfurrs, it is people like her that undermine true victims of rape.  You should be upset with the little bitch, not with people that want to see her properly punished.

Okay, so this case is pretty clear-cut. And I agree about the ethics of this, but I'm bothered by a question of practicality. How in general do people propose we go about instituting punishment for false rape allegations? How do you determine the allegation was false? Do you consider an allegation to be false if a conviction was not obtained? Any system you implement presents the danger of jailing a real rape victim simply because she failed to obtain a conviction, or was coerced into withdrawing her allegation (it does happen). So is coming foward about a rape but failing to convict the rapist now essentially a crime? Good deal that.

I agree about the heinousness and unfairness of false allegations, and think that for this reason maybe alleged rapists' names should be protected pending conviction, just like the victims'. But other than that, I don't know if there IS any practical, reasonable way to balance these concerns.

My gut tells me she should publicly apologize, pay restitution, and serve time.  But one concern...the more punishment we dole out for false accusations, the more we encourage people to persist with the false accusations from fear of being punished if they rescind.  

I'm surprised no one is blaming the media for "outing" the true victim before the trial was finished.  Why is this mans reputation destroyed?  Because "WE", the readers of this story, agree that "WE" are willing to to cast blame before it's due.

Shame on Venus, Brian, others.

Let her rot in jail... lots of deserved diseases for her to pick up there