Tanya Robinson and Emin Kandola act in case of woman who staged robbery and attempted rape and framed lover

Tanya Robinson prosecuted and Emin Kandola defended woman who staged her own robbery, attempted rape and stalking, and then framed her former lover.

Emma Weller, 32, pleaded guilty to one count of perverting the course of public justice at Maidstone Crown Court. The offence took place over a period of around 3 months in 2020 and included a series of acts which had a tendency to pervert the course of justice in that she made or caused to be made false criminal allegations against her ex-boyfriend, Paul Miller, a prison officer.

The facts of the case were extremely complex. Weller broke up with her first boyfriend, prison officer Paul Miller, in 2019. Between January and May 2020, she then went out with another police officer before he too broke up with her. On the evidence, Weller was demanding, obsessive and manipulative. When each relationship faltered, she would use her personal difficulties to gain sympathy and “guilt” her partners back into the relationship with her. To this end it seems that she claimed multiple pregnancies, miscarriages, abortion, deaths of those close to her, and similar, to gain attention or sympathy and thus rescue the relationship. The gravamen of her offending, however, was in her conduct:

a) Creating fake social media accounts to send herself and her new partner, messages purporting to be from Miller harassing them both which were reported to the police on 23.04.20, leading to Miller’s arrest and investigation for stalking and harassment offences;

b) Creating another false identity on a dating website “Tara” to make contact with her ex-partner after they broke up, which ended with this (fake) person making threats to her partner on 27.05.20 that the defendant would be raped that night in Mote Park by someone she did not expect when she turned up for a date at 18:30 (with unpleasant details about how she would be left). Her ex-partner, fearing for the defendant’s safety, and believing that the person messaging him was Miller, called 999 immediately so that officers were sent to check on the defendant, and Miller was again arrested. The defendant claimed she was about to go on a date with “Ben” that she had met on Hinge to meet at 18:30. Ben was another figment of her imagination.

c) The very next day, after she had been told that Miller had been bailed, she then made a false allegation that she was robbed and sexually assaulted later that evening on 28.05.20 in a dark alleyway, when she went out for a walk. The description she gave of her masked assailant, while not naming Miller, appears to have matched his description (apparently including the same aftershave he wears) and the clothing he was later found to have been wearing that evening. Her description of what the attacker said, also pointed to her assailant being known to her (she deserved it, once a rape victim always a rape victim – the latter something she had told her ex-partner that Miller had said to her before). Weller claimed to have fled the scene after her would-be rapist desisted when he realised that she had a bloody sanitary towel in her pants (at the time she claimed this was because of an abortion – there was no abortion). She ran straight to her ex-partner’s house for help, with apparent injuries to her face and body that the Crown say she had inflicted on herself. Based on the information provided by the defendant, and her ex-partner’s natural assumption that Miller was making good on his threat the day before, the matter was reported to the police by her partner identifying Miller as the likely defendant, who was then arrested for the third time, only hours after he had been released from the second arrest, this time arrested for robbery and attempted rape.

The effect of this course of conduct was that police investigations were commenced in respect of harassment/stalking; malicious communications; and robbery and attempted rape.

This resulted in Millers arrest on three occasions, including overnight stays in police custody for up to 24 hours and the download of his mobile phone. The substantial investigation carried out by the police revealed that Weller was behind the creation of fake social media accounts to send herself and her ex-partner harassing messages; that she was the person communicating with her ex-partner on 27.05.20 who made threats about her own safety; and that the alleged robbery and attempted rape were staged to gain sympathy from her ex-partner and rescue their relationship.

Weller was of previous good character, has two children and has worked in various healthcare positions.

She was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months immediate imprisonment.

Tanya Robinson was instructed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Emin Kandola was instructed by Danielle Hurley, Vyman Solicitors.