Gloucestershire mum fakes rapes

A Gloucestershire woman who lied to police about being raped, has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice.

Twice 52 year old Gail Sherwood, from Thrupp in Stroud, faked rape scenes, during one of the incidents she was found tied up with gaffer tape on her mouth.

She also told detectives she was being stalked and even blamed a driver after they were involved in a minor car crash. He was held for 20 hours before being released without charge.

A jury found her guilty of three counts and she will be sentenced on March 4.

Gloucestershire police issued a statement after the verdict:

"Gloucestershire Constabulary take all reports of sexual assaults very seriously and following Ms Sherwood's allegations an in-depth and thorough investigation was launched.

"Ms Sherwood has wasted significant police time and resources with these false allegations but what is most upsetting is the way a false claim such as this completely undermines those people whose lives have been devastated by genuine crimes of this nature.

"We are pleased that justice has been done but most importantly we want to reassure genuine victims that each case is treated in a sensitive manner by specially trained officers.

"We work in close partnership with the Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and would like to encourage victims to report their experience to ensure they are given support and that everything possible
is done to bring offenders to justice.''