A 24-year-old woman has gone on trial accused of making a false allegation of rape against a man she met through a telephone chatline.

Bradford Crown Court heard how an intensive inquiry was launched after the woman walked into Skipton police station and made her allegation last August.

She claimed she had met her attacker in a Huddersfield nightclub and that he forced her to have sex with him at knifepoint in his car a few days later. But the jury heard from prosecutor Timothy Capstick that they had actually got to know each other through a telephone chatline. He said the woman described to the police how the man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, picked her up from her Huddersfield home, but became aggressive with her in the car.

She alleged that the former Bradford man began smoking cannabis and then threatened her with a knife.

The woman, whose identity also cannot be revealed, alleged he forced her to perform various sex acts before telling her to strip and having sex with her. She claimed that the attack ended when the car stopped near a pub and the man allowed her to go to the toilet.

Mr Capstick said police forced their way into the man's Skipton flat and arrested him in connection with the rape allegation.

But as the police inquiry continued, questions were raised about the woman's account, he said. She was then arrested and Mr Capstick claimed she admitted in interview that she had lied. The woman denies the charge. The trial continues.

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