Woman apologises for false rape claim - Report
A south Auckland woman who falsely claimed she was raped by an armed man posing as a plain-clothes policeman has apologised to her neighbours and police.
In a letter to her neighbours, the 41-year-old, who has name suppression, said she was "so very sorry" for the "distress and disruption" her false complaint caused.
"I realise that my false complaint has caused unnecessary worry and anger for you and others in this community," the Sunday Star-Times reported.
The newspaper said she had also verbally apologised to police for wasting their time.
But investigation head Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone said: "It's an apology, but at the end of the day it's too little too late." The photocopied letter was distributed to the eight units in the Papakura block of flats where the woman claimed she was attacked.
In the letter, the woman said she never meant to "undermine the needs of (legitimate) victims or the professionalism of the NZ police".
She apologised to her neighbours for inviting "police presence and media intrusion".
She said she would be moving out of the address "in due course".
The woman was arrested and appeared in Papakura District Court last Monday.
She was given bail and ordered to live at an address in Papakura, report twice a week to police and stay away from illicit drugs and alcohol.
The court heard that the woman had been seen by a forensic psychiatrist who had mentioned a dependency on alcohol and drugs in his letter to the court.
At the height of the inquiry more than 30 police were involved and spent many hours looking for witnesses and the alleged attacker.
Police have not released details of the cost of the inquiry.
In a letter to her neighbours, the 41-year-old, who has name suppression, said she was "so very sorry" for the "distress and disruption" her false complaint caused.
"I realise that my false complaint has caused unnecessary worry and anger for you and others in this community," the Sunday Star-Times reported.
The newspaper said she had also verbally apologised to police for wasting their time.
But investigation head Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone said: "It's an apology, but at the end of the day it's too little too late." The photocopied letter was distributed to the eight units in the Papakura block of flats where the woman claimed she was attacked.
In the letter, the woman said she never meant to "undermine the needs of (legitimate) victims or the professionalism of the NZ police".
She apologised to her neighbours for inviting "police presence and media intrusion".
She said she would be moving out of the address "in due course".
The woman was arrested and appeared in Papakura District Court last Monday.
She was given bail and ordered to live at an address in Papakura, report twice a week to police and stay away from illicit drugs and alcohol.
The court heard that the woman had been seen by a forensic psychiatrist who had mentioned a dependency on alcohol and drugs in his letter to the court.
At the height of the inquiry more than 30 police were involved and spent many hours looking for witnesses and the alleged attacker.
Police have not released details of the cost of the inquiry.