Man exonerated after 14 years

Man exonerated after 14 years

LONDON (AFP): A man who has spent 14 years in jail for rape
was cleared on Friday after Britain's appeal court ruled that his
alleged victim had probably made up her story.

Roy Burnett, 56, a gardener, had been jailed for life in 1986
after a jury accepted evidence from a 20-year-old nurse that he
had raped her.

Burnett refused to admit guilt but had no grounds for an
appeal until 1998 when the same woman made a false complaint of
rape against someone else.

When police investigating her second claim began to doubt her
credibility, Burnett's case was re-opened.

Lord Justice Judge said a re-examination of the evidence given
in 1986 had revealed many inconsistencies in her various accounts
of what happened and in her description of her alleged assailant.