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Originally Posted by WOW!USaidSomethingSmart!
Couldn't the men or police sue her for false accusations and slander? Perhaps they could let it go once or twice but 8 times? Come on, she's on the way to pulling off 3 hat tricks then a baker's dozen. If she was suffering from such mental health problems that she began giving these accusations, why not put her into a mental hospital to get her more stabilized?
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Bit of a grey area I'm afraid - I can't remember the specific defences for defamation off the top of my head but mental health at the time of the accusations would probably be a factor in how likely it is a claim could be brought. If it's resulted in a reduction in the sentence already then there is obviously strong evidence these were serious problems so that could be a stumbling block to establishing liability. It's also difficult to prove whether she knew the statements to be false when she was making them in light of the mentioned "mental health difficulties", so it might not quite meet the threshold for that part of the test for defamation. It would certainly pass the publication test though so it all depends on how big a factor the aforementioned are, and I wouldn't like to comment on that without a chance to look at the case law.
I feel it is worth pointing out she has still been given a custodial sentence of 12 months - it is however conditional on how she conducts herself over the next 18 months. Should she commit further offences in that time or breach the terms of her supervision order then she will most certainly go to prison.