News Beat
Man jailed for falsely reporting Durham student for spiking
Thomas Lee called the police as he was walking through Durham city centre following a night out to falsely claim the American student was taking advantage of the woman as they made their way home.
The 26-year-old gave vivid descriptions of the alleged drug being used before telling police that the woman was stumbling all over the place, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Cainan Lonsdale, prosecuting, said the student was caught on film hyperventilating in the rear of a police vehicle when he was told what he was being arrested for.
The court heard how the student was arrested on suspicion of administering a noxious substance following Lee’s 999 call where he falsely accused him of spiking.
“He told the police that he saw the student place a pill in his friend’s drink, she consumed that and he was all over her,” he said.
“The defendant remained on the phone for eight minutes narrating what he had seen. He told the police he was in the Royal Military Police and gave them a false badge number.
“He told police he had seen a change in her presentation and she had become stumbling.”
The court heard how a search of the city’s CCTV system revealed that Lee’s account was completely false after he alleged the man had also offered the woman to him as they walked home.
Lee, of Park House Gardens, Sherburn Village, County Durham, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice after his phone call in the early hours of May 10 last year.
Sophie Johnstone, mitigating, said her client had struggled with alcohol for several years and was thoroughly ashamed of his behaviour.
She added: “He should never have behaved in the way that he did and wants to relay his apologies to the victim in this case.
“It simply should not have happened.”
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Judge Jo Kidd sentenced Lee to 20 months in prison after hearing of the impact the offending had on the American student, who has since returned home following the completion of his studies.
“I cannot begin to fathom what your motive was,” she said. “Your conduct was deliberate, it was targeted and it was malevolent towards a perfect stranger who had done nothing to you whatsoever.
“You provided further details in order to make his position worse, including the suggestion that he offered the woman to you in some way.”
