From the Times, 15.12.01

A farmer's son who was jailed for nine years for the rape of a young girl has been cleared after she admitted that she lied to get her mother's attention.

R---- B--------, 37, who has served more than three years of his sentence, had his conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal. The girl, now 14, told police that she had made up the allegations. "I have put a man in prison for no reason", she said.

Mr B--------, from S----, was convicted of rape and attempted rape by S------- Crown Court in March 1998. The Appeal Court judges found that there was "no material" to uphold his conviction after the withdrawal of the girl's statement. He had been freed on bail in May shortly after the girl made her admission.

Mr B-------- was living in a farmhouse 15 miles from S---- at the time of the alleged offences between 1991 and 1993. The girl told her mother that between the ages of three and six she had been raped and interfered with when visiting the farm.

Lord Justice Mance, sitting with Mr Justice Penry-Davey and Mr Justice Leveson, said that she was "a troubled young woman. She was confused about her sexuality. She thought she wasn't getting enough attention from her mother. She says now she never wants to see her mother again. She has expressed the wish to right a wrong which has been keeping her awake, crying all night."