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'My one night stand cried rape for cash'

Last week Sarah-Jane Hilliard escaped jail despite falsely accusing student Grant Bowers of raping her.

The devious 20 year old dragged Grant into a railway station toilet for sex, but later told police that he had forced himself on her.

Incredibly, just a week after the alleged attack, she applied for criminal injuries compensation, which could have netted her £7,500.

However, her plan came unstuck when CCTV footage and mobile phone records proved Grant’s innocence. But her twisted story drove Grant to the brink of suicide after he was hounded out of his home and spat at in the street.

Hilliard was eventually found guilty of perverting the course of justice, but she only received a 12-month suspended sentence.

Her barrister told the jury she had experienced an “extremely difficult period in her past” and had been attacked as a result of the publicity. But as Grant tries to rebuild his life, he says her soft sentence is a mockery.

“Some people will always think I’m guilty,” says Grant, 20. “Her lies have ruined my life. I think she did it for the money. If she was willing to see me go to prison for six or seven years, she should get the same sentence.

“I don’t have any confidence when I meet girls now. I find it really hard to trust them, and I feel I have to tell them about the rape allegation because I don’t want anyone to think I’m hiding it.”

Grant was on a night out with pals in July 2008 when he spotted Hilliard in Colors nightclub in Basildon, Essex.

He recalls: “I thought she was really pretty. I told her I liked her and she said she liked me. We kissed a couple of times and then she gave me her number.”

Later that night, Grant, Hilliard and her friend walked to a train station so she could use the toilet, but Grant was stunned when bisexual Hilliard dragged him into a cubicle for sex.

Grant says: “She pulled me towards her and kissed me. She looked behind her and said she was looking for cameras, then she pulled me into a cubicle.

“We’d both had a few drinks, but she was making all the moves. I asked her if she was sure but she just said: ‘Shut up and don’t talk.’ It was silly but we didn’t use a condom, I suppose I got carried away.”

Hilliard then left with her friend, giving Grant a kiss goodbye. Later, he received a text from her asking if he would be there for her if she fell pregnant and he replied he would.

“We’d talked about meeting the next day,” he says. “I hoped it might turn into a relationship.” 

However, Grant didn’t hear from Hilliard the next day, so he texted her to ask if she had regrets. He was astonished when she replied and asked if they had “gone all the way.”

“I explained she’d made the first move but she said she hadn’t, and that she’d been unconscious on the floor,” says Grant.

“I felt sick. She was drunk, but she certainly knew what she was doing. I showed a friend the text and said: “I think she’s going to try to get me done for rape.”

Five days later, Grant’s worst fears were confirmed.

He says: “The police turned up at my dad’s house during dinner. I was devastated and struggled to breathe. My dad was in shock but I told him and the police I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

Grant was questioned at Basildon Police Station, where he had a DNA mouth swab, fingerprints and a mug shot taken. He was held in a cell for four hours before being grilled by detectives.

He says: “I just cried – I felt sick and alone. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but didn’t know if anyone would listen. I was questioned for hours, but I just told the truth and hoped they would believe me.”

After nine hours, Grant was let go. He says: “When I was released I was sick. I told my mum over the phone what I’d been arrested for and she cried, but said she’d stick by me.

“I only told a few close friends, but rumours spread. Within days people would spit at me in the street or shout ‘rapist.’ I even had bottles thrown at me. It got to the point where I contemplated suicide. One night after I’d had a couple of drinks, I stood at the edge of a road, ready to jump into traffic.

“But then I thought about all the people who supported me. Also, if I killed myself, she [Hilliard] would have won.”

Hilliard originally told police she’d been on her way home from another club in a taxi with friends, when they stopped at the railway station and she was attacked by a “scary man.”

But the truth came out when her friend told police they’d been in Colors nightclub. Police trawled through CCTV footage and saw Hilliard kissing and walking arm-in-arm with Grant just minutes before she claimed to have been raped.    

Police also discovered she had applied for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority just a week after the “attack,” which could have earned her £7,500. The government organisation can pay compensation to people who have been physically or mentally injured as a result of a violent crime, even if an offender hasn’t been convicted.

Eight days after his arrest, Grant was told he wouldn’t be charged and that Hilliard was being arrested for perverting the course of justice. But by then, rumours of his arrest had spread.

He says: “I was getting abuse every single day. I couldn’t sleep, so my doctor put me on anti-depressants and sleeping pills.”

Grant had to quit his accountancy training course due to stress. And things only got worse when Hilliard denied perverting the course of justice, forcing Grant to go to Basildon Crown Court in May 2009 to give evidence against her.

He says: “While in court I tried not to look at her, and focused on the judge and jury. I kept thinking that if she was found not guilty it would mean people really thought I’d raped her.”

Thankfully, Hilliard was found guilty. But since then the nightmare has continued for Grant, who was hounded out
of his flat in June 2009.

He says: “I had the door of my flat kicked in. I barricaded myself in and called the police. I didn’t feel safe there any more so I moved in with my dad.”

But the campaign of violence continued. A £100 bounty was put on his head for information about his whereabouts and he was forced to go into hiding.

He says: “I heard people were offering £100 to find out where I was living, but I had no idea who these people were, so the police couldn’t really help.”

Last week, Hilliard was handed a 12-month suspended sentence. But Grant has now moved out of Basildon and keeps his address a secret, even from his parents, who he can only visit under the cover of darkness for fear of attack.

He says: “I’m going to have to move where no one knows me and make a fresh start.”

By Catherine Peerless