A businessman who spent three weeks
in jail after falsely being accused of rape by a woman he met on the internet
is suing the police for malicious prosecution and wrongful imprisonment.
Kayode Modupe-Ojo, a former boyfriend of David Beckham’s sister Joanne, said his reputation has been destroyed and he lost his business because police failed to investigate properly the woman’s fictitious allegations – including that he possessed firearms – or the glaring inconsistencies in her story.
DailyMail reports that the 28-year-old former spa owner was arrested at his home in Cheshire shortly after spending two days with the woman. His accuser gave a harrowing but entirely false account of being tied up and moved around the north-east of England against her will, after a sexual encounter turned terrifyingly violent.
Mr Modupe-Ojo, who has lived in Britain since the age of three, was dragged from his bed by the police, handcuffed and questioned for three days without legal representation before being charged with multiple counts of rape and kidnapping.
Kayode's
former girlfriend pictured with her brother David Beckham
On the basis of the woman’s lies,
Durham Police declared he was ‘a danger to women’ and he was remanded in jail
for three weeks.
Mr Modupe-Ojo was acquitted when his trial at Newcastle Crown Court collapsed due to glaring discrepancies in the prosecution case. But he said that by then the damage had already been done.
Mr Modupe-Ojo was acquitted when his trial at Newcastle Crown Court collapsed due to glaring discrepancies in the prosecution case. But he said that by then the damage had already been done.
‘The judge directed the jury to
acquit me, but my reputation was left in tatters,’ he says. ‘There are people
out there who think, “no smoke without fire”.
‘It is grossly unfair that my details have been in the media, while my accuser
gets away without a blemish to her name. Rape is one of the most repulsive
crimes there is.
‘A false claim not only ruins the lives of innocent men, but it damages their
families. I did nothing wrong and yet this case almost destroyed me.’
What Mr Modupe-Ojo describes as ‘the
most terrifying period’ in his life began in August 2013 when he responded to a
‘friend request’ on Facebook from a beautiful blonde woman he had never met
before. The law prevents the media from naming her even though the court found
her allegations to be entirely false. He says:
‘She was very attractive. We texted
and Skyped each other before meeting. She was the driving force behind our
meeting and I was flattered by her attention.’
During their time together Mr
Modupe-Ojo took the woman to restaurants, a club and they stayed in two hotels
which she booked and paid for. He also drove her home to pack an overnight bag
and spent 30 minutes talking with her mother.
‘My accuser was alone in her room
upstairs and could have used her phone to call for help if I had been the mad
rapist she made me out to be,’ he added. ‘I told all of this to the police
questioning me.
'I also gave them the passwords to my phone and laptop so they could check the correspondence between us.’
'I also gave them the passwords to my phone and laptop so they could check the correspondence between us.’
He still has text messages she sent
after they parted. There were also numerous CCTV images of the pair cuddling,
kissing and holding hands.
‘There was ample CCTV evidence and
witnesses to prove she was all over me in public, but the police didn’t seem to
be interested in proving my innocence. They seemed convinced they had their
man,’ he says.
‘When the female officer told me I would be remanded because I was a danger to
women and a flight risk, my legs buckled. I had done nothing wrong, yet I was
facing a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty.’
Further charges for firearms
offences and a threat to kill were dropped because no weapon was found in his
flat.
Once Mr Modupe-Ojo’s case came to trial, alarming discrepancies emerged. The accuser claimed she had known her attacker for years. Yet in her opening message on Facebook, she admitted they’d never met. She said she had been tied up and moved around against her will. Yet it emerged she texted her boyfriend to tell him she was OK.
Once Mr Modupe-Ojo’s case came to trial, alarming discrepancies emerged. The accuser claimed she had known her attacker for years. Yet in her opening message on Facebook, she admitted they’d never met. She said she had been tied up and moved around against her will. Yet it emerged she texted her boyfriend to tell him she was OK.
‘She told the court I had stolen her
phone and written the text,’ Mr Modupe-Ojo says. ‘But this fell apart when it
was revealed she had also texted her friend to say happy birthday and called
her mum while we were together.’
Incredibly, the police did not
examine the outgoing texts or calls from her mobile. By the time the judge
instructed the jury to acquit him, his name had been reported, his bank
accounts frozen on order of the police, and he’d lost his salon.
‘I lost everything,’ he says
bitterly. ‘I was even evicted from the gated community where I lived after
women residents complained about living with a potential rapist.’
But what hurts him most is that the
stigma of being a rapist still follows him ‘like a bad smell’. It is the key
factor – along with his financial losses – in his decision to sue the police.
‘I want it made clear I did nothing
wrong and I was the real victim.’ A spokesman for Durham Police
confirmed there was ongoing correspondence but made no further comment
