The sex worker who admitted lying to police during the trial of a man she falsely accused of raping her will not face prosecution.
Lee Haughian was acquitted of the charge and walked free from Belfast Crown Court last October following the woman’s admissions.
The judge directed the jury to clear the 25-year-old Co Down man after she confessed under cross-examination by Mr Haughian’s barrister to not telling investigating officers the truth about what happened.
Last week police confirmed they had conducted an investigation following the collapse of the case, but said no further action would be taken against her.
“Enquiries were conducted and the investigation has now closed,” a PSNI spokesperson told Sunday Life.
This newspaper previously contacted Mr Haughian to ask if he wished to say anything about the outcome of the case but he declined to discuss the matter.
During questioning by a defence barrister on the final day of the trial the woman, who cannot be named, was asked about the account she gave to police who attended her home under an hour after the alleged incident and an interview she had with officers the following day.
Lee Haughian leaving court
Mr Haughian’s barrister pointed to inconsistencies between the accounts and when the woman was asked, “Do you agree you didn’t tell police the truth?”, she replied: “Yes, sorry.”
The trial heard how Haughian contacted the woman via an escort website and they agreed a price for her services, following which he called at her Belfast home at 12.30pm on August 15 last year.
The woman claimed that after letting him in and walking upstairs to her bedroom, he shoved her on the bed, told her he wasn’t going to pay and then raped her twice.
Mr Haughian’s barrister told the hearing while his client accepted calling to her home and having intercourse with her, he denied raping her and producing a knife.
He told investigating officers: “We had a dispute over payment. I told her I didn’t want to pay, and she told me if I didn’t pay £270, she would go to the police and allege that I had raped her.”
Following the woman’s admissions, a prosecution barrister said it was felt the test for prosecution was no longer met and the case ought not to continue.