Gail Chambers
Gail Chambers
Early Life & Education
According to her defence barrister, Chambers has a low IQ and significant mental impairment.
Personal Life
Criminal History
2018 False Rape Accusation Conviction
Newry Crown Court, in Belfast, heard that the man she accused was arrested, had intimate samples taken and was then subjected to a police interview.
After providing an alibi which proved he was shopping at an Asda supermarket in Belfast at the same time Chambers claimed he was raping her, he was released.
However, the incident has had a lasting affect on him, he had considered suicide and is having trouble living with the shame and embarrassment of being suspected of rape.
Judge Melody McReynolds said that while cases such as this had an impact on already stretched resources and real victims of sexual crimes, she was taking into consideration Chambers mental and physical difficulties when deciding on the sentence.
Before passing sentence, the Judge was told by a Crown Prosecutor that Chambers made a false rape claim to police on October 24, 2015, and that after the allegation was made the “police machine swung into action”.
Chambers, was taken by police to the Rowan Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Antrim, Northern Ireland, where she was examined by a doctor.
It was here that she gave what the prosecutor described as a “lurid and graphic account”, where she claimed a man she knew called to her house, tipped her out of her wheelchair then helped her back into the chair before throwing her on her bed and raping her.
She also claimed threats of violence were used, that she was left bleeding, and that afterwards her attacker had a bath then left.
Police arrested the man named by Chambers the following day, and he underwent a medical examination where a number of samples were taken.
He was also interviewed that day, and was later released on police bail.
She was interviewed in June 2017, when she refused to answer any police questions.
She subsequently pleaded guilty to a single charge of perverting the course of justice by making a false report that she had been raped.
The prosecutor revealed the man accused by Chambers was left “totally shocked” by the allegation and arrest, and felt “embarrassed and angry being accused of an awful crime”.
In a victim impact statement, the man said when he arrested “I felt my world had collapsed around me”.
He said the incident has affected his social life as he no longer trusts people.
He also said “the only time I feel safe is on my own company.
I feel suicidal and have considered taking tablets”.
The prosecutor told Judge McReynolds “luckily, he was able to prove he wasn’t anywhere near the location this crime was said to have been committed”.
Defence barrister Adrian Higgins started his submission by telling Judge McReynolds that Chambers had acknowledged what she did was “disgusting”.
Pointing out it took police almost two years to interview Chambers after the initial allegation was made, Mr Higgins spoke of his client’s low IQ, “significant” mental impairment and her obvious physical disability.
The barrister said that during the period Chambers made the false claim, she was living a transient lifestyle and did not have the same level of community engagement she does now.
Mr Higgins said that in 2015 “she was seeking the attention of police and the medical services” as her life at the time was “distressing, dull and lonely” and this “broke the cycle of loneliness”.
Accepting his client was manipulative, Higgins asked Judge McReynolds to spare his client jail as she had a “unique set of circumstances” that would make a period of custody extremely difficult.
While passing the sentence, Judge McReynolds spoke of the impact Chambers false claim has had on the man accused of raping her, and said: “Clearly this person suffered real shame and embarrassment because, quite frankly, mud sticks, to the extent that he had suicidal thoughts.”
Speaking of “several categories of victims”, the Judge told Chambers: “Stretched resources and stretched professionals working with survivors of domestic and sexual violence have been used by you, effectively for attention seeking purposes.”
Judge McReynold also spoke of “genuine survivors of sexual violence whose cries of help are undermined by people like you”.
The Judge did, however, agree that Chambers had not came to police attention in the last three years and that her life was more settled now.
While handing her the suspended sentence, Judge McReynolds told Chambers that if she offends within the next three years, she could face jail.
2013 False Rape Accusation Conviction
The court heard on Wednesday that detectives soon discovered that her ex-partner could not have carried out the rape as he had a “cast iron alibi’’.
Prior to being sentenced, Chambers had pleaded guilty to a single count of perverting the course of justice.
Prosecuting barrister Peter Magill told Belfast Crown Court that police received a call from Ms Chambers in July, 2012 saying that she had been raped at her home by her ex-partner.
Chambers was taken to the specialist Police Service of Northern Ireland suite at Garnerville to be interviewed where she maintained that she had been raped.
Mr Magill said that her partner, who was also a more vulnerable person was later interviewed by detectives who denied raping Chambers.
“He was living at the Morning Star hostel which is secure and had CCTV coverage.
It was established that he would not have been in the area at the relevant time.’’[7]
A defence barrister said that Chambers suffered a low IQ, had learning difficulties and was also well known to police at Strandtown in east Belfast for making false claims.
“She has made many complaints but this is the worst complaint of its kind.
She has been a plague on Strandtown police.’’ He revealed that she was currently in custody for breaching her bail on the perverting the course of of justice charge after she was arrested for the offence of arson with intent.
Judge Corinne Philpott QC told Chambers: “This was a wicked thing to do.
The severity of the offence makes this very serious.
“It is not entirely clear why you made the allegation, whether it was to try and get him back or to have him punished.’’[7]
The deputy Belfast Recorder (judge) gave her a suspended sentence.
She told Chambers: “You can’t go around doing what you like when you like.’’[7]
Prior Offenses
According to prosecutors, Gail Chambers has committed several prior offenses involving wasting police time - such as claiming she had been stabbed, or was being threatened via text messages, when she was the one sending herself the messages from a second mobile phone.