False allegations: rape
False rape accusations have occurred in recent times, very few resulting in custodial sentences. In one case, a woman’s false claim of rape led to a needless six-week long pursuit for a rapist around Shannon in County Clare. The investigation, which included gardaí making 30 separate house calls, followed Amanda Hayes falsely reporting to gardaí that she was raped by a man wearing a hoodie in the early hours of St Stephen’s Day in December 2014. In her defence, her solicitor pointed out that his client had not made the false allegation against a named individual. The woman received a three-year sentence in July 2016.
In October 2016, a woman with a personality disorder who made a false rape allegation against a man she was angry with has been given a suspended sentence of three years. At the end of a brief relationship, Sarah Eastwood had told the man: “You messed with the wrong person, I will get you sorted out.”. at Store Street Garda station, she later alleged the man had raped her in a city centre pub toilet.