Woman who falsely accused workmate of sexual assault jailed for eight months

Teresa Watson, 50, was found guilty at Aberdeen Sheriff Court of making the false accusation against Martin Canavan when the two worked together in a WH Smith branch in Aberdeen Airport.

Ms Watson went to the police last April to convince them of her story, wasting 72 hours of their time.

Mr Canavan was taken into police custody and questioned for six hours in the middle of the night before being released without charge.

Police were unable to find any evidence on CCTV to substantiate Ms Watson’s claims.

Sheriff Richard McFarlane heard she still refused to accept the verdict and, since her sentence was deferred last month, has failed to cooperate with the preparation of reports and has simply walked out of meetings with social workers.

Mike Allan, defending, said: “She accepts that she was found guilty.”But in her head she does not believe she committed this offence.”

Sheriff McFarlane said that over the course of the trial, “extraordinary aspects” and “peculiarities” of her case had been exposed including her failure to remember the date of the attack.

He added the effect on Mr Canavan was “incalculable”, saying: “I found you guilty of both charges going back to April 25, 2014.

“The first charge is that you accused a former work colleague of sexually assaulting you.

“The police made inquiries and the found that your allegations did not have a grounding in fact. This led to the second charge.

“These matters are extremely serious.

“As you are well aware I do not believe a word you said.

“As a result of these allegations police called on your work colleague. The impact of being targeted by the police in human terms is probably incalculable.

“It has been a life changing event and one that I don’t think he has fully recovered from.

“I’m in no doubt that each of these charges attracts a custodial sentence.”