'Jealous' woman tormented ex with fake allegations

A "jealous" woman who tormented her ex-boyfriend and his new partner with false paedophile, rape and harassment allegations has been jailed.

Over the course of 16 months, Joanne Nicholson fabricated evidence, made multiple fake reports to police and even managed to falsely obtain a non-molestation order as part of her campaign, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Both her victims were arrested multiple times and her ex-partner said he came close to suicide, while his partner said Nicholson was "hellbent" on "destroying lives".

Nicholson, from South Shields, was jailed for two years and one month after she admitted sending a letter to cause distress and perverting the course of justice.

Nicholson and the man had been in relationship from 2021 to January 2023, which he ended because of suspicions around her fidelity, prosecutor Joe Culley said.

Soon after he started a relationship with a new woman, Nicholson sent letters to his neighbours and mother saying he was a "dirty nonce", the court heard.

Between February 2023 and June 2024, she made at least 15 statements to police alleging she was being harassed by the couple, the court heard, showing officers threatening messages purporting to be from them.

Nicholson also made four anonymous 999 calls in which she claimed the man was attacking and raping a woman with her name at his home, but when officers went to the house they found the claims to be totally untrue, the court heard.

Using her fake evidence and reports to police, Nicholson pretended to be a victim of domestic abuse and managed to obtain a non-molestation order from a family court in April 2023, the prosecutor said.

The following day she made another fake report to police saying the man had breached the order by sending her a threatening message, the court heard.

The man was arrested at least five times times over allegations of making threats to kill Nicholson and breaching the order, none of which were true, Culley said.

The man's new partner was also questioned several times by officers because of Nicholson's lies, the court heard.

In June 2024, police arrested Nicholson and searched her home.

A handwriting expert identified the paedophile accusation letters as being written by Nicholson, while indentations on a writing pad seized from her home matched the notes.

Mobile phone data showed the 999 calls were being made from her home rather than the man's, while the various social media accounts she claimed she was being threatened from were also all linked back to her phone, the court heard.

In a statement read to the court, the man said he had contemplated suicide, lost his job due to the number of shifts he had missed while in police custody and had to have social services involved with his children because of Nicholson's lies and attempts to ruin his life.

The man's new partner told the court Nicholson's "heartache and jealousy" had led to her taking it upon herself to "go destroying people's lives in a hellbent and reckless manner".

She said she had never even met Nicholson but had received thousands of abusive messages from her, with the constant barrage and fake allegations becoming an "unbearable burden".

The woman said she became a prisoner in her own home and felt "suffocated" with the fear caused by Nicholson's lies.

The court heard Nicholson had set up online dating profiles as the woman and had spoken to men pretending to be her, which left the woman terrified of what she had told them and what they may do as a result.

She said she was left feeling "disgusted and sickened" when a man Nicholson had been speaking to approached her in the street claiming he knew her.

The woman said she could not describe the "pain and mental anguish" caused by Nicholson's claims to the local community that the couple were paedophiles.

"I truly believe you wished to destroy our lives," the woman told Nicholson.

She also said Nicholson repeatedly knowingly lied to the police and obtained a court order with her domestic abuse fabrications, all of which deprived real victims of resources.

"You used every service available to you to inflict harm upon us and it has truly been a crippling experience to endure," the woman told Nicholson.

Recorder Andrew Latimer said each of Nicholson's allegations about the "innocent" man and woman was "entirely untrue" and it was "no exaggeration to say" she had "tormented" the couple.

A restraining order banning Nicholson from contacting her victims was made to last for 10 years.

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