Sheelagh Tierney is due to be sentenced at Maidstone Crown Court

by Keith Hunt

A man was robbed of cash as he walked home after a woman pretended he had raped her, a court heard.

Sheelagh Tierney was with two men when they spotted Callum Harvey withdrawing cash from a bank dispenser in Rochester High Street.

The victim noticed the trio watching him. He walked off up Star Hill and realised Tierney, 37, and one of the men were following him.

Mr Harvey told a jury at Maidstone Crown Court that Tierney was saying "Excuse me." He ignored her and quickened his pace, despite having broken his ankle recently.

"They were getting closer to me," he said. "They caught up with me. The guy said: 'Don't I know you?' Then I was punched in the face by him.

"It confused me. I didn't really know what was going on. I stumbled back. He held me up against a fence by my right arm. She (Tierney) had her hand on my top.

"The man was making threats, claiming I had raped her and he was going to beat me up. They asked where I lived and what my name was.

"I was saying: 'What's going on? I don't know you.' They were saying I had raped this woman. I became aware of another man approaching.

"I said: 'Please help me, I am being mugged.' At which point, he grabbed my arms and helped pin me to the fence. They were still threatening me, saying: 'Is this him? Is this the one who raped you?'

"The woman went into my pockets and took out my wallet. She took £20 that I had drawn from the bank. She put the wallet back in my pocket. She started saying it wasn't me and she could tell by my eyes."

One of the men warned him not to tell the police. When he checked his wallet, the £20 had gone. As he walked away the woman apologised.

He saw Tierney again while in Subway in Rochester High Street with his girlfriend 12 days later.

"I recognised her as soon as she walked in," he said. "I was feeling quite scared. I phoned the police and told them when she left."

He later picked her out of an identity procedure. The two men have not been arrested.

Tierney, of Weavers Court, King Street, Rochester, denied robbery but was convicted. She was absent for the verdict because of illness.

Sentence was adjourned until next Friday, April 5.