Man jailed for campaign of made-up sex crimes

Victor Wild's campaign of lies left his victim in "extreme distress", police said

A man who waged an "elaborate and warped campaign of lies" against another man, which included allegations of sex crimes, has been jailed.

Victor Wild, 32, of Mayfield Road in Harrogate, spread misinformation through social media and emails and made false reports to the police, about a Scarborough man.

North Yorkshire Police said Wild initially pleaded not guilty at York Crown Court to perverting the course of justice, but changed his plea to guilty.

He was sentenced on Friday to three years and four months in prison.

Wild had spread "horrendous allegations" using made-up names of people claiming to have witnessed serious sexual crimes perpetrated by the victim and reported them to the police, a North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said.

He also tried to convince newspapers to print his fake stories.

'Elaborate and warped'

Officers said Wild contacted police claiming to be a journalist investigating the allegations and asked officers to comment on why the victim and a second man were not in jail.

Det Insp Tim Bentley, of Scarborough CID, said: "Wild’s elaborate and warped campaign of lies resulted in extreme distress for the victim, severely impacting his mental health, his daily life and that of the people around him.

"Wild also wasted hours and hours of police time and resources, creating significant demand on police officers and police staff whose time was diverted from genuine reports of crime.

"I am pleased to see him locked up for a significant amount of time and be exposed for the dangerous liar that he is."

A force spokesperson said Wild was also charged with intentional strangulation of a second victim, but was found not guilty of that offence.

Another charge of controlling and coercive behaviour in relation to the second victim was allowed to lie on file by the court.

Wild was issued with restraining orders forbidding him to contact either of the victims in person or online.

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