A WOMAN who cried rape to get attention and sparked a major investigation to find her attacker, was locked up last night.

Kirstey Moir's lies cost the taxpayer £100,000 and wasted 800 hours of police time after detectives and the media helped hunt for the man she claimed raped her in a Darlington park.

The 19-year-old chef kept up the pretence for three months, during which time the life of the man she had accused was badly affected, Teesside Crown Court heard.

James Tyrone Alleyne, of Darlington, was arrested and held in police custody, subjected to medical examinations and told he faced up to life imprisonment if convicted of rape.

Detectives broke down the front door of the house he shares with his mother, who came home to find forensic officers scouring the house for evidence.

Moir, who works at Electrolux in Spennymoor, claimed she was attacked in the town's North Lodge Park in the early hours of April 26.

Rod Hunt, prosecuting, said the teenager had met Mr Alleyne in Bar Rio's, in Gladstone Street, and the pair had later left and went to the park and had consensual sex.

"She went back to James' house and spent the night in his bedroom, where they again had sex. She later told her parents she had been raped."

Moir admitted lying and on December 16 pleaded guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Aisha Wadoodi, defending, said: "She felt used and wanted some attention from him. Matters spiralled out of control."

Judge Guy Whitburn told Moir that by making the false allegation she had weakened the genuine allegations of rape victims.

Moir, of Phoenix Place, Newton Aycliffe was sentenced to nine months in a young offenders' institution.