She deserves a lengthy prison term....

False accusations of rape should be dealth with harshly.

A woman who falsely cried rape against her former husband was facing jail yesterday after being convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Sally Henderson, 40, a mother of two, described by the prosecution as a "wicked liar", claimed Richard Cooke, 39, had repeatedly raped her during their year-long marriage.

But police discovered her claims were almost identical to false allegations she had made five years earlier against a previous boyfriend, Mark Rowe, 42, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

Lifting an order preventing her identification, Recorder David Lane, QC, said: "The public has a right to know the identity of a person who makes such allegations and who seeks to use the system of justice for her own, unscrupulous ends.

"These two men were put through the extreme anxiety of facing the most serious and most grave offences that can be brought against a man."

Neither man was charged but Henderson's plea of not guilty meant that they had to give evidence to the jury.

The judge told Henderson she had "forced the two men to appear in a public court, face complete strangers and give evidence and be cross-examined about painful, embarrassing and intimate details".

Henderson reported the false rapes only after both men left her. Mr Cooke was held in a police cell for 36 hours following his arrest.

Mr Cooke told the court: "It was quite shocking to have three or four police officers arrest you, manhandle you and take you away for something you've never done."