A MAN has walked free from court after admitting that he falsely cried rape.

Mark McCabe, 25, was given a suspended jail sentence for his fabricated story, which triggered a major manhunt and led to the arrest of an innocent married man.

McCabe, of Station Road, Redcar, east Cleveland, yesterday told a court he made up the story because he felt he would be ostracised by his friends if they knew who he had left a nightclub with.

McCabe said he had been raped by two men in an alley near the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, in the town, in the early hours of Saturday, March 10.

He gave detectives a detailed description of his "attackers" and his claims prompted a major inquiry, costing an estimated £4,000. But after a thorough investigation and a week of intensive police work, officers were satisfied the allegations were untrue.

McCabe appeared at Guisborough Magistrates' Court yesterday where he pleaded guilty to wasting police time.

Sharon Campbell, prosecuting, told the court: "He told officers he left the Des Res nightclub and walked with a friend..., who got in a taxi, leaving him on his own.

"He described how he walked to Grange Road and as he made his way to Jedburgh Street, he was dragged into an alleyway by two males."

Ms Campbell said that when officers trawled through security camera footage, they realised the claims were untrue.

She said: "Police officers considered the CCTV and what this showed was that at 2.26am, the defendant was seen hand-in-hand with a male.

"They were then seen getting into a taxi on Linthorpe Road. This clearly showed no such incident as had been described by Mr McCabe."

Helen Larkin, in mitigation, said: "He was concerned about the reaction that his friends would have about the person he had gone home with that night, and felt he would be ostracised by them and did not want that to happen.

"When he initially told the story to his friend, he did not believe the police would become involved. He has expressed remorse and expressed a sense of shame about the offences and certainly is concerned that he has been responsible for using up a number of police hours and resources and asks if apologies can be passed on for that."

McCabe also pleaded guilty to assaulting Daniel Young on Wednesday, July 4, in Queen Street, Redcar.

Ms Campbell said the assault took place after McCabe became frustrated at not receiving his post from Mr Young, who he used to live with.

McCabe was given a four-month custodial sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a supervision requirement for the charge of wasting police time.

No separate sentence was given for the assault charge, but McCabe was ordered to pay £60 court costs for each offence.

Detective Inspector Chris Sadler, who led the investigation, said: "False reporting of crime wastes public resources and, ultimately, impacts on real victims of crime.

"As an investigator, I will always be prepared to believe people, no matter how strange the circumstances might be, because experience shows that the truth can be strange."