A Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice resident was on Monday freed of a charge of falsely accusing a Police officer of rape.
Stephan Philips, 28, initially appeared before Magistrate Annet Singh at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged for making false allegations.
The man had previously denied the charge, which stated that on October 22 at Brickdam Police Station, he gave to Officer Marilyn Rodney false information alleging that he had been raped by Police Constable Shawn Beharry.
Police Prosecutor Adduni Innis in the interim told the court that the defendant was known to Police and was before the Providence Magistrate’s Court charged for breaking and entering when he made allegations that he was raped by a Police rank.
The Prosecutor revealed an investigation was launched and it was revealed that the defendant fabricated the story. Prosecutor Innis said that advice was sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions as to the way forward and it was recommended that Philips be charged for the offence.
Meanwhile, the Officer against whom the accusation was made told the court that as a result of the false allegation, his name had been tarnished and he had been placed under close arrest for six days.
However, after the investigations revealed the truth, officer Beharry was freed of all charges.
The Magistrate dismissed the matter on Monday due to issues over the defendant’s attendance.
