A MOTHER and her teenage daughter were given custodial sentences yesterday after falsely accusing the girl’s boyfriend of rape.

Louise Brazil, 47, invented the attack on her daughter, Ada, 16 at the time, after Shaun Howes, then 18, ended his relationship with her and moved out of the family home.

Brazil, of Burgess Hill, West Sussex, told police that her daughter was a virgin until the alleged assault in October 2003. Ada, who was five months’ pregnant with Mr Howes’s child by the time the allegations were made in March 2004, went along with the story, claiming that he had pinned her down in her bedroom and raped her.

Mr Howes was arrested but told police that he had shared a bed with her for several months, with her mother’s consent. He was on bail for almost three months before police charged the Brazils with attempting to pervert the course of justice. Ada, now 18, admitted the offence in February, but her mother continued to deny it and was convicted at Hove Crown Court last month. She was sentenced yesterday at Lewes Crown Court to six months’ imprisonment.

Ada, who is pregnant again, by a different man, was sentenced to three months in a young offender institution. Judge Guy Anthony told the pair: “A false allegation of rape is a very serious matter. It may have led to the prosecution, conviction and imprisonment of a young man who did nothing wrong at all. It is no service at all to those genuine rape victims who find it difficult enough to come forward.”

Detective Constable Chris Smith, of Sussex CID, who interviewed Ada when she made her accusations, said: “It was a calculated attempt to frame Mr Howes, who had offered to pay maintenance for his child but would not return to the family. There is no doubt in my mind about who was behind the allegations. That was Louise Brazil, who ruled that family. It was her idea that the couple had a child in the first place.”

He added: “I must stress that anyone who reports a rape in good faith has absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Graeme Ford, for the prosecution, told the jury that even though the pair had claimed Ada’s pregnancy to be a result of the rape, her mother sent Mr Howes a congratulations card when their daughter was born in June 2004. He said: “Photographs of the baby were sent to Shaun Howes as well as cards to him and one to his father addressed as ‘Grandfather’.”

After the hearing Mr Howes, now 21, said: “I was lucky the police found out the truth. I still feel angry towards the pair of them. Louise Brazil knew what she was doing . . . these last two years have been sheer hell. I’ve now got a new partner and we’ve got a little girl so I’m going to concentrate on them and put this behind me.”

Andrew Buckingham, of Victim Support, said: “At a time when reports of rape are rising and convictions are falling, a false allegation wastes valuable time that could have been spent investigating real rapists. This man has found himself in a most unpleasant situation and now he has to get his life back on track.”

Lucy Lavelle, of Surviving Trauma After Rape, said: “These people have wasted an enormous amount of time and one has sympathy with the police and the court. Genuine victims should not be put off reporting their experiences.”

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• Linklaters trounces rivals as UK's biggest firm
• Clifford Chance profits plunge 37 per cent
• Casual drinkers hit by spread of 'dry' zones